Christmas Eve is my favorite day and evening of the whole year. I have fond and peaceful memories of this time that go all the way back as far as I can remember. The busyness is finished, there is still fun to anticipate, it’s a day of family time and most of all it is a non-commercialized quiet time of reflection on our most special gift of all; the beginning of life for our Savior. It is a time to remember and celebrate the miracle of his birth and the light that his continued life gives to the darkness of the world even today. I love Christmas Eve. To me it is very special.
Rick decided to make one last kind of Christmas cookie; Cream Wafers are his favorite and Kaitlyn was his assistant in the kitchen for the morning.
Kaitlyn finished making her Christmas present for Tristan with my help. She made a Hershey Bar into “Frosty the Snowman” with paper, ribbon, finger ink prints and markers; wrapped him in tissue paper, put him in a small card box and then wrapped it. Each of the kids drew a sibling’s name this year to give a gift to on Christmas. I encouraged thoughtful gifts that were recycled, reused or at least inexpensive this year… as long as they were thoughtful. Haley sewed a bag with fabric scraps and old ribbons for Lindsay and then stuffed it with popcorn and gum which she retrieved from our food storage shelves; things that Lindsay will soon be missing for a couple of years while her braces are on. Lindsay presented Nathan with a gift of one of her stuffed animals she thought he might like… and he did. It was a way to pass something on with some ceremony… something that will be appreciated all over again while the other formally says her goodbyes to the ties she has with this animal. This saves money and space, was thoughtful and I was proud of the kids for their self-less thoughtfulness this year.
We always have a special Christmas Eve dinner by candlelight with a tablecloth and our best dishes. The kids dress up to help remind them to be on their best behavior… makes for a more enjoyable evening.
After dinner we read the scripture stories in the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon of the different account of Christ’s birth. We sang Christmas Carols around the piano and then bundled up for a walk through our quiet neighborhood to look at the lights on peoples homes and in their nearby yards. While we were out walking we saw Santa come running out of someone’s house!!! He ran across the street and by the time we could get to the corner he had disappeared into someone else’s house. That was pretty exciting!
When we got home we read “T’was the Night Before Christmas” and had to persuade our own creatures to quit their stirring as we got ready for bed.
Then Christmas cookies came out for sampling and we chose some to put out on Santa’s plate with some milk. Even after giving so many cookies away we still seemed to have so many. We had cream wafers, Holiday fudge, chocolate candies, swirled butter cookies, Chocolate Mint Softies and East End Bars.
Kaitlyn helped to carry Santa’s special cookie plate into the living room to leave it where he might see it and enjoy the sampling. Kaitlyn was fearful that Santa would eat all our gingerbread houses, however!!! We reassured her that he would only eat what was on his special plate… he would know!
Nathan brought his special gift for Kaitlyn to put out under the tree.
Kaitlyn got our special key for Santa down… very very heavy… and hung it on the handle outside on our front door so Santa can get in, since we don’t have a chimney for him to come down. Tristan sprinkled reindeer food made out of oats, hay and gold sprinkles out on the snow covered yard in front. Then all the stockings hung waiting as happy children snuggled down in their quilts upstairs to dream their special dreams on what I like to think of as the quietest night of the year.
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