Santa came early to our house this year. . .
Since we are going to Utah next week and hauling gifts for both extended families, we thought it would work best to write Santa a letter, requesting an early visit. Everyone seemed to feel fine about it, so on Saturday we celebrated Christmas early!
Before we'd made our Santa plans, we had invited some friends over for on this particular night. Initially it was going to be a later evening with games and dessert, but when Heather told me they have been sick and might need to make it an earlier evening, it worked out great for us all.
Another friend wanted to be a Santa's helper and watch Christina that day. I decided that it would help most during those cooking/prepping hours. I don't think I've enjoyed cooking a meal so much in years. It was peaceful, quiet, and so fun to cook without whining or anyone pulling at me.
I couldn't find red paper napkins at Walmart, so the Santa napkin holders were funkier this year in plaid and holly! These Santa napkin holders are becoming tradition and we love using them. I remember making them years ago from a pattern that my mother-in-law gave me.
I love using my Christmas china. I swap out our dishes and try to use it all month long. I tried to make favorite dishes of each person in the family for this Christmas Eve dinner.
So I included our Creamy Ham & Peas Penne (the kids favorite), along with an Alfredo Penne, spinach salad (with grapes, craisins, apples, and toasted almonds) (Ben's favorite), holiday juice (grape juice and Sprite), and garlic bread. Heather brought a Paula Deen rum cake for dessert. It was a wonderful meal and so relaxing. That's usually not the case with dinner parties in our home, but for whatever reason the kids were amazingly quiet and well-behaved. After eating, Katie went to play with Christina while the adults visited and finished our meals.
Our next Christmas Eve tradition is to open an ornament and one gift each. The kids love opening gifts on Christmas Eve. It's fun to find an ornament that reflects each person.
The next part is not as fun to some of our family (ie. Ben and Daniel). I did get them to ham it up a little bit and get our traditional "Christmas tree on Christmas Eve photos." Daniel is so silly. He cracks me up. Ben did a great job setting up the tripod and getting the camera settings just right for these pretty sequence of photos.
I loved these next shots of Father and Son.
Handsome boys
Darling girls. I was too tired to go find Christy's dolly and locate her matching nightgown too. Maybe I'll photoshop her in later. Christina's rosy cheeks are too cute, but due to her lingering cold. I keep wondering when my girls are going to kick this cold virus. It's been a doozy.
And we got a great photo of us all. Merry Christmas Eve!
