Christmas Eve

Today was Christmas Eve. The boys were pretty excited from the moment they woke up. It’s fun when your kids really start to get old enough to understand. Jeff had to work until late that afternoon, but we had fun at home, making treats, and watching Christmas movies. The night before, I made a big batch of cinnamon rolls for Jeff to take to work to hand out; apparently they were a hit at the hospital, and we enjoyed them for breakfast too.

This is the second Christmas we’ve been away from family. I do fine, but it is a little tough on Christmas Eve knowing that everyone is together enjoying the evening except for you. We’re fortunate to have such a great ward, we’ve had a couple invitations to come over for dinner tonight. We ended up getting together with three other families; the Garlicks, Slades, and Olsens. It was such a fun evening. We had dinner & dessert, and enjoyed the time visiting together. The Olsens have one little girl that is two, and the Slades have three little boys. Jacob and Caleb are close in age to Andrew & Ethan. They were all pretty excited to be able to play together so we didn’t see much of them during the night. Josh & Emily, the Garlick children, were so sweet , they entertained and played with all the younger kids almost the whole night. Matthew entertained himself by running circles through the dining room/kitchen/entryway. I’m not sure if he enjoyed it because he had so much space to run around in, or because he liked the sound of running around on the hardwood floors. His only tantrum came when I wouldn’t let him climb up the large staircase by himself. It really was such a fun evening. We had such a great time that we didn’t even end up leaving until almost 9pm. As we were leaving, we were saying that it’s hard to be away from family during the holidays, but if we couldn’t be with family, being with friends really was the next best thing. We sure appreciated the Garlick’s hospitality. They’re such great people and we were grateful to be able to enjoy the evening at their home with friends.

We got home a little late, but still let the boys open one present that night. They were excited to see their new pajamas. Matthew got Thomas the Train, Caleb got Wall-E, and Jacob got Spiderman. It was fun to see them so excited running around in their new jammies. We were then able to read our Christmas story, the nativity account in Luke 2, and sing a few songs. Christmas Eve is also nice because the boys go to bed so willingly, and then Jeff and I were able to get things ready for Santa to come. We felt grateful for the blessing of good friends, and for our Savior who is the reason for the season.