Christmas Eve

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Til He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

We had a lovely Christmas Eve. We started out delivering some treats to some of our neighbors. The girls had the BEST time being little elves!


Throughout the day we also frequently checked in on the NORAD Santa tracker and used our globe to see where Santa was in relation to our house. The girls wanted to make sure they were in bed by the time Santa arrived!

After lunch a close friend of mine from college (and one of  my bridesmaids), Katie, and her husband Chris came to visit. They live in Reno but are visiting family on the east coast and stopped by on their way to Myrtle Beach. I LOVED getting to hang out with them! The plans came together last night so it was a fun little surprise for our day!

After Katie and Chris's visit we headed to church for the Children's Service. They always do such a good job and I love that the whole service is geared toward the children. Emmie was thrilled that the offering from the Children's Service was going to support her friend Levi and his family. They are missionaries in Poland!

Ruthie had fallen asleep in the car and we woke her up to take these pictures...she was NOT pleased!

After the service we came home and the kids played for a bit and then we ate dinner. After dinner the kids put on their pajamas and we settled in for one of my favorite Christmas traditions: hot chocolate, sweet treats, and a Christmas movie. (And JP had what was apparently the best.cookie.ever...one of Gran's gingerbread cookies.) We used to always watch the Polar Express but the last few years we've changed up the movie. This year the kids picked "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" as the Christmas movie. They really enjoyed it!

Ruthie was actually happy in this picture...she was saying "hot chocolate"!

After the movie it was time to write letters for Santa and put our some snacks. Emmie left a jingle bell for Santa as a gift. Ellie wanted to leave money so that he could buy more toys for other kids next year and Ruthie tagged along with Ellie's idea. I love these sweet girls and their spirit of giving!




Finally it was time for bed. Before the kids went to bed we read the story of Jesus's birth from the Bible. Now everyone is tucked in asleep and tomorrow we celebrate with family!