the joys of raising jack, jovie & judah: Christmas Eve

i think i love this day just as much as Christmas Day. maybe its all the anticipation that you feel as you look forward to Christmas morning. it just feels so magical & its always such a sweet day with family. i love it.

we woke up Christmas Eve morning & spent some time at home as a family. it was so nice. we stayed in our pj's & watched Christmas movies. then i had to make a quick Kroger run while my boys took naps. when i got home we ate some lunch & began to pack up our things for our night with Ben's family. i was sad that we didn't get to see my parents on Christmas Eve but they had some last minute errands to run & other stuff to get done & by the time we would be able to get over there, it would be time to leave for the Williams house. but we had a blast with them Christmas night.

Christmas Eve festivities began at the Williams house around 4 pm. Jack played for a little bit before taking a quick nap & me, Jenna & Frances began preparing our Christmas Eve feast. when Jack got up from his nap, we loaded up the car & headed to church for the Christmas Eve service. it was a sweet time of singing Christmas carols & hearing Pastor Jim read the Christmas story from Luke. then we loaded back up in the car (in the rain, ugghh) and made our annual Christmas cookie run. this is a tradition that ben's family has been doing for years & years. we take tins of cookies from Ricki's cookies (and they are SOOO good) to some of the Williams family & friends. after the cookie run we headed home to finish up preparing supper, eat & relax.

we arrived home around 8 pm. Jack played the piano, his very favorite thing to do at Mamie's house, and played with toys. we finished up the food & sat down for an intimate sweet Christmas Eve dinner. we had beef tenderloin with gorgonzola sauce, mashed potatoes, homemade mac n cheese, rolls, creamed spinach & sweet n sour green beans. its ridiculous how delicious this meal is, we look forward to it every year. Jack stayed up with us for a few minutes but then it was his bed time! after dinner, my father-in-law, or Granddaddy, lead us in a little bible study about the Christmas story. we talked about Mary & Joseph & what the bible teaches us about their obedience to the Lord in the birth of Jesus. i love studying God's word with my family, it so precious.

after dinner, we sat around the tv & watched Christmas Vacation. how can you not love that movie?! it is hilarious. after the movie we all headed to bed, we were wiped out! we had such a blessed Christmas Eve. i love holidays with Ben & Jack so much. what a blessing to have such a sweet family. i can not wait for next year. Jovie will be here, Jack will be 2 & we are starting some new traditions. Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!!!