Christmas Eve is my very favorite day of the year. It always has been. When I was younger I loved the anticipation of Christmas morning. But I also loved our family's Christmas Eve Nativity tradition. It was the biggest extended family event of the year (next to the 4th of July). We'd all dress up (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents) in authentic costumes and since we lived on a ranch there were always live animals, real hay, and a cold stable. It was easy to imagine what it might have been like in Bethlehem. I have the best memories of my uncle Richard playing the part of King Herod like a true thespian, my grandpa narrating from the scriptures, my grandmother's retired Tabernacle Choir voice, and my cousins and I sledding down the hill to the barn - in costume. The music and singing was always fabulous. And so was the food. Christmas Eve for me now is always nostalgic. So I've tried to re-create some of that with my own family. And guess what? Christmas Eve is still my favorite day of the year.
This year we celebrated Christmas Eve with our best friends and neighbors. And despite being a little chaotic (Isaac mostly) and thrown together more last minute (me) than in years past, everyone had a great time.
Here is Lydia waiting for our guests to arrive.
We love our next door neighbors, Scott and Nancy. They enjoy (tolerate) the craziness of our kids and always bring them such generous gifts. They are like surrogate grandparents here.
Isaac played Joseph. He relished being the center of attention to say the least. We have some hilarious (borderline irreverent) moments on videotape. Anne was the perfect Mary.
Eliza played the part of the baby-stealing angel again.
Clayton and Brigham were wise men. They (by contrast) were very reverent and played their parts well. . . bringing gifts of gold chocolate for everyone.
Aren't these beautiful angels? Megan impressed us all with her memorized recitation of the entire scriptural passage announcing Christ's birth to the shepherds.
Here are a few highlights of the evening:"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."
2 Nephi 25:26
Merry Christmas Everyone!
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1 comment:
Of course your Christmas Eve party was a hit! You are amazing! Thank you so so so much for sharing your program with us. It was absolutely perfect and we all thought about you while we went through it. I love watching Eliza in the video. She is just getting so big and I'm totally amazed at how she sings.
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