Christmas Eve was a very busy morning - hustle and bustle of finishing up wrapping, baking, prep for our party etc - I was a mad woman. Then at about 10am in the middle of the chaos and a bit of frustration we lost power. It was a moment when you just stop ( in the middle of cookie dough) and look at each other and say, well how do we support 30 people in our home after church with no power and no food? Sam and the boys went outside to stack firewood, I sat in the hot tub and read. I had just put my book down and was feeling utterly relaxed when the jets came on indicating time to get back to work. But I must stay that we enjoyed the rest of the cooking much more with a light heart and laughter. Thank you Lord for giving me that moment to remember just exactly what Christmas is about and having the right focus for the day!
So - once we were up and running again we got to work!
The boys have really been into the traditions from when Sam and I were children. On Monday we did the vast majority of our baking and attempted some of the Hutchinson treats Heather - think congo squares and the microwave peanut brittle that nobody ever ate:-). After SEVERAL phone calls to mom since Grammy Hutch either a) didn't include all the ingredients or b) put down the ingredient but not how much - we had some yummy deserts.
Sam and the boys attacking the Taylor tradition of Molasses cookies - just like Ma did.
Ben worked on the chicken taco dip for the party
Then we were off to service. We attending the 3pm children's service which had a Christmas pageant at the end (I was in charge of costumes). Over 400 people attended! It was a beautiful service.
Listening to Pastor Sandi's sermon. You can't see Ben but Nathan is on the far right - in a shepherd costume with a red sweater underneath. Right in front of the girl with the blue shepherd hat.
Nicholas didn't want to go up, but was very interested.
Ben looking smart in his suit and singing. Man does that boy need a haircut - but he doesn't want one.
The wisemen being just that. Their crowns kept falling down. All I could think of was the Lion King in Disney's Robin Hood!
I didn't take any photos of us as a family which makes me sooo mad as everyone was dressed up and looked so nice! We were in such a hurry to get home and ready for the party. I didn't take any pictures at the party but we had such a nice time. The kids played the piano and guitar downstairs while adults talked upstairs.
After everyone left our friends the Wilkes stayed to help clean up and we had a birthday party for Jesus.
We got everyone to bed and then Sam and I had to go outside in the FREEZING cold and assemble a trampoline :-) Luckily it only took about an hour. We didn't do the safety net, that was assembled yesterday!!
All my Christmas photos are on my phone so I'll upload those later.
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