Speaking of cookies, we still had a couple cookie plates left to deliver. One of the most important to Graysen was our neighbor boy (who basically spends all his time at any house that has the garage open or people outside, because his home life is not great). G$ spotted him through the window (since knocking on his door wasn't working) and threw on his coat to deliver the plate in person, along with an invitation to go to church with us. G was so excited when the answer was yes! About an hour later, we were on our way.
Our church was packed! I didn't know that many people could fit into that small space. Somehow, we found a row with seven open seats. I loved when they invited all the kids in church up to hear the Christmas story read by one of the older men in the congregation. He had a rocking chair and a Bible and all those little eyes and ears focused on him. So cool! And they all got a candy cane for their attentiveness. Graysen and our neighbor boy went up to sit with the storytime crowd, too. I wonder what was going through L's head--I don't know how much church experience he has. It was very cool Graysen wanted to invite him! And I do love Silent Night by candlelight, a Christmas Eve service classic!We set a timer delay on our oven, so when we got home it was preheated and ready to bake. In went the casserole, and out came the Christmas book. Last year, we read through the memories of each Christmas that I've stored in that book. This year we read through the Christmas letters, most of these I haven't re-read since they were written. I learned I'm somewhat redundant, but also very consistent :) What a trove of memories that book is! I'm so glad we started keeping it, clear back at our first Christmas, because to be completely honest, I'm having a hard time remembering back four days to write this, I can't imagine 17 years!
After our supper was complete, we headed downstairs to watch White Christmas. I do love that Christmas movie! Of course, you need a snack while watching a movie, so we broke into the gigantic box of Moose Munch popcorn Buck's dad sent for Christmas. My mom also gave us a giant tin of flavored popcorn, and I bought a big old Costco pack of Popcornopolis for stocking stuffers (these are still in my closet, we have A LOT of chocolate-coated popcorn to get through :) But it was fun watching White Christmas with the Crew, munching popcorn, and singing along to the great songs on the screen.Getting the kids to bed is never an easy task--especially now that they are teenagers (mostly) and don't even get sleepy until 11 (according to our pediatrician). But WE get sleepy before 11 :) So, Buck and I worked on stuffing stockings (the sorting alone--and making sure the candy tasted alright--can take all night ;) and then when everything seemed fairly quiet upstairs, we started filling the living room with fun. Forget Santa, it is fun being parents on Christmas Eve!
We weren't sure how to wrap a full-length mirror for Caelan (she spends a lot of time checking her outfits in our room, since we have lovely mirrored closet doors). Buck was standing in the kitchen while I was taking pictures. I said, "You are photobombing my Christmas tree picture." He said, "How is that possible?!" but as you can see--I have evidence!! Ha!
Not a creature was stirring . . . except for a 100 pound dog who wanted to know why there was a box wall built across the living room entrance :) Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
2 comments:
Your tree looks fabulous with everything underneath it!
And how sweet that Graysen invited the neighbor boy to go to church...what a kind, sweet boy he is!!
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