We had a very nice Christmas this year celebrating the birth of our Savior and spending time with family and friends. One of the highlights for me was the 11:00 pm Christmas Eve service at church. We always have a hard time staying awake and motivating to head to church at bedtime, but we've been going for years (for me, it's been since high school) and it's a beautiful service. And there's just something about spending the first few minutes of Christmas Day (in the wee hours of the morning) singing Silent Night in a darkened worship room glowing with hundreds of lit candles. In addition, the music was amazing and a wonderful Christmas gift in and of it itself.
We always have lunch with Mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve. Grandma is more comfortable at home in her pajamas these days, but she was able to muster the energy to make it to our lunch after encouragement from us and expressing that we didn't want to celebrate Christmas without her.
I am thankful and blessed to enjoy the same Christmas traditions still today that I have for most of the Christmases that I can remember. Even though Hayley does not spend the night on Christmas Eve, the rest of our usual morning traditions have continued to remain the same over the years.
Hayley and Jerry arrived bright and early on Christmas morn in their pajamas. The present-opening took most of the morning because of each of us opening one gift at a time (and the guys carefully examining each and every toy or tool) and also having a breakfast intermission.
Pre & Post with my sis
After our leisurely morning of opening presents at home, we went to Mawmaw's to spend time with Dad's side.
Cousins
After a wonderful Christmas together, it was so nice to wake up the next day and know that we all had more than a week off to rest up and enjoy some down time.
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