Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the year. It is the night that my family celebrates Christmas together and we always have a great time. This year was no exception. It was so nice to have all of our family that lives close to celebrate this year. We've had one of those years where you really feel blessed to be together. Both my aunt and my dad have survived cancer and my Grandma is still with us to celebrate her 95th Christmas. I don't have many memories of Christmas without my Grandma and I love having her there. Even Alexis has decided that this family thing isn't too bad after all and had fun. We had a great night!







We started out with an early dinner, and then did our traditional Christmas program which begins with the kids acting out the nativity. This year Skylar was the angel, Nick was Joseph, Kade was a shepherd, and Alexis was a wiseman. They looked so cute.The nativity is always so wonderful to watch and the kids do such a great job acting it out. I love listening to my dad read the story from the Bible and the reverence that settles over the room as we reflect on our Savior's birth and the entire reason we are there to celebrate. I'm so glad that the older cousins are still willing to participate with my little ones so they can enjoy this favorite tradition of mine.








I really didn't think that Alexis would participate this year but she loved dressing up and being a part of the group of cousins. Plus she got to wear a crown which is our little princess's favorite.After the nativity, we had a little talent show where everyone showed their stuff. My nephew and nieces played piano, guitar, and violin and Skylar played the piano and then our little contortionists Katie & Nick showed off their amazing flexibility!
















For those of us that didn't (or weren't willing to) have any talents to show off, we broke out the good ol Rock Band Beatles. Talk about bringing the family together. Everyone in the family, across lots of generations of music, was having a great time together.

Then of course, there were presents to open. This year we kids all chipped in to buy my parents some well-deserved and well-needed recliners which I think they were pleased with.








But what we didn't expect was the amount of fun that the kids would have with the boxes they came in. The kids had a blast!

We had such a wonderful night having fun and remembering the Savior's birth together. I love my family!