Christmas Eve

It makes me sad to look through these pictures. Next to the carefree days of Summer, November and December are my favorite time of year.   I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone.  Today I found myself feeling down in the dumps and wishing that it was last week and we were just starting the fun Christmas week.  But Jason reminded me that another one is just around the corner. And he is right.

We had a fun Christmas Eve. We all slept in, and then I started making treats to snack on throughout the day. For the first time since we've been married, I made the mousse truffles that Dolores made for her family every year at Christmas time. They were delicious...so delicious that I made myself vow to only make them once a year :) I also made a batch of Rice Krispie treats.  The kids and I played a Christmas game that I made up several years ago while we were in Laramie, and then the kids did some more sledding and even talked Jason into taking them out with the 6 wheeler.

The rest of the day was spent listening to Christmas music, getting ready, and bumming around.  The kids were excited when it was finally time to go up to Grandma and Grandpa Reasch's for the real Christmas Eve fun.  We ate a yummy dinner of everyone's favorite finger foods, and then had a program and family home evening.  Katelyn, Jacob and Dallin sang Angels We Have Heard on High and Silent Night.  They practiced and arranged the songs themselves.  It was pretty sweet. My mom gave a wonderful lesson on the Nativity and had us all think about what we could give to the Savior this year, and Emilee sang O Holy Night on the guitar.  Even though Kinlee and Dallin were whiny and restless, it was still a wonderful evening and I am so thankful to my family for hosting us and making such a fun memorable night for my family. We ended the night with Secret Santa-ing and opening up the annual Christmas Eve PJs present before bed.  Even though it's the same thing every year, they still get excited and love opening this present!

We drug Jacob's mattress into Dallin's room and the three oldest camped out in there together.  Now that we have a family room and a living room we weren't sure where Santa was going to leave the loot so the kids decided it would be best to all sleep together so they couldn't see the surprises before everyone else was able to be out there.  It made me happy to think about them all sleeping snug in one place together. Surprisingly they went sleep fairly quickly, but they big plans for an early morning. :)