Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a busy evening for us. Every Christmas Eve since my first I've spent at my grandparents' house. That tradition certainly hasn't changed with the addition of my own kids. It's fun to watch them get just as excited about going to Grandma's as we got when we were little. But before we headed up to their house, we first stopped at my mom's so the boys could open their presents from Grandma Tami. That is where Sawyer opened his very first Christmas present. Not really sure what he thought about the whole deal. He kind of always has a constant look of wonder on his face. Grandma got him a dump truck filled with big Legos.

Logan and Brandon also each got Lego sets from Grandma and of course remote control helicopters. Brandon's gotten pretty good with his. He thinks it's funny to fly it in circles around Sawyer's head. He just watches it like a cat following a trapped moth in a window.

After we were done there we headed up the hill to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa's house. We had our usual dinner of cold cut sandwiches and then the boys were able to go crazy with the presents. Once the gifts start getting passed out, the livingroom turns into a mad house. Paper, ribbons, boxes, and bows get scattered all over the place. It's a hectic 30 minutes or so until the gifts are all unwrapped and the garbage is picked up. I can't imagine Christmas Eve anywhere else.

Auntie and Sawyer

Sawyer with Great Grandma Lynda. I think Grandma's giving Grandpa a dirty look. That's not uncommon. I get my gift of "the evil eye" from her.

The boys each wore their new Christmas shirts.

Sawyer with Uncle Matt.

After we left from there, we went to a Christmas Eve service at church.Usually we put the boys into their own classes at church, but the didn't have any for this service. Even if they had though I would have wanted them to stay and watch. They started by having everyone stand and sing Christmas songs together and then they brought a bunch of the little kids on stage and read a story about the birth of Christ.

The scene on the stage was so pretty.

After the story was read, they made snow fall on the stage. The kids up there of course loved it.

They gave the kids activity bags to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

One of the kids' favorite parts was during the last few minutes of the sermon. Everyone in the sanctuary was given candles and they were all lit from the unity candle onstage, lit for Jesus.

The candles represented what Jesus' birth brought to the earth: hope.

It was so beautiful seeing all of the candles lit and raised high in the air. It was a short service, but it was nice getting a chance to slow down during this crazy season and worship the Lord.

After it was over we headed home, put the boys to bed, and waited for Santa to visit.