Sing-A-Story of Christmas

Christmas vacation was a little bit different for us this year due to the fact that my mom and dad were out of town (visiting my sister Sara in L.A.) for the holidays! We always look forward to spending lots of time with them and doing our Christmas traditions together... so we missed them, but we ended up having a really special Christmas with each other and were also able to do some fun things with my brother and his family. I knew early on that Sara was flying my parents out to California for Christmas and although disappointed, I figured I would just make the best of it and make myself feel better by planning more fun things to do and

adding to my shopping list too! :)

After sledding (see previous post) We invited my brother, his wife Edie and their three boys over for a festive dinner and our traditional Christmas Eve program!!

on the menu was... french dip sandwiches and au jus for dipping, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, fresh corn, winter fruits with fluffy dip and martinelli's to drink! It was delicious!

It has been a long time family tradition for us to "Sing-a-Story of Christmas" on Christmas Eve. There are sections of narration and scripture that tell the story of the first Christmas and they are accompanied with songs for everyone to sing that go along with each part of the story! It is the perfect way to tell of Christ's birth, to sing carols and to feel the true spirit and meaning of Christmas. My mom is an amazing seemstress! She sewed our clothes, our dolls clothes and most of our house decor from holiday items to curtains... a true homemaker!! She is a perfectionist when it comes to sewing, and has an eye for detail. She made the cutest nativity for our family when I was little. I'm hoping one day she'll make me my very own :)... I know it would be a huge project and quite an undertaking... I should probably just dust off my own sewing machine, problem is... mine would never be as cute as mom's!!

Anyway... Each year as we'd get out our Christmas decorations I loved it when I'd see the old orange box being pulled from storage! We all knew that's were mom kept our special nativity. It was the perfect nativity for kids... soft dolls!! We played with it almost everyday, usually telling the Christmas story with each piece, but sometimes we'd make up other stories. I even remember falling asleep holding the baby Jesus on a few nights... a very special privilege! This nativity is pretty special to all of us kids and has now become a favorite for the grand kids too! It is the nativity that we use for our sing-a story of Christmas every year! Placing each piece around baby Jesus just right, as the story is being told is something we all look forward too!! Just before Christmas Eve I realized that with my mom and dad out of town, we might have to do something different this year? I called my mom and because she is insanely organized she told me exactly where to go in her storage room... step by step to find the nativity... and there it was in the same old orange box!!

I love Baby Jesus' unruly hair and sock body...
I especially love the look on Mary's face... hers is different than all the rest! Notice how all of the people have their hands sewn together... When I pulled Mary out of the box there, in her arms was cradled baby Jesus. Usually he is in the manger or just somewhere else in the box. I thought it was so cute that whoever put them away last year (probably one of the kids) thought he should be in his mothers arms...

The shepherds with their lamb

The three wise men... Isn't the camel cute- Gabe loved him! I think the wise men are my favorite... the detail in their outfits is amazing and they each have a little gift in their hands for baby Jesus.

the angel... so peaceful!

As I looked around the room filled with six little BOYS ... their eyes filled with wonder. Each of them earnestly singing Christmas carols, my heart was so full!

I am so glad that these boys have each other... Cousins are the best! They are such good buddies and love being together!! I am so grateful that they are all so close in age and that we live so close to them! It will be fun to see them grow up together, be examples for each other and someday send them off as missionaries... they are all such special little boys!! We ended the night singing one of my favorite primary songs
"He sent His son"
"How could the Father tell the world of love and tenderness? He sent his Son a new born babe in peace and holiness. How could the Father show the world the pathway we should take? He sent his Son to walk with men on earth that we may know. How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice of sin? He sent his Son to die for us and rise with living breath. What does the Father ask of us, what do the scriptures say? Have faith, have hope, live like His Son, help others on their way. what does he ask? Live like His son!"

Our Christmas Eve dinner and program turned out perfectly. It was a great reminder of what Christmas is all about!

We finished up our time together with our tradition of opening one present... It's always Christmas pajamas and all of us look forward to new, special jammies each year!

We said farewell to Steve and his family with plans to see them for breakfast in the morning! We looked on the internet to track Santa and see just how much time we had before he would get to Utah... He was heading this way, so we quickly made our reindeer food....

here's the recipe

3 scoops of sequins

a pinch of sparkling snowflakes to glisten in the moonlight guiding Santa's way

3/4 cup of oats for the reindeer (to help them fly, of course)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Stir for one minute.

Last, but not least... sprinkle the reindeer food outside in the moonlight....
quick Santa's on his way!!

The boys put out peanut butter cookies, that we'd made that morning along with some milk for Santa to enjoy! They quickly wrote him a last minute note too....

Here's Eli's

And this one's from Evan....

Whew.....All ready for bed!! What a fun day!!
Here's the love of my life, with our boys... who could need anything more?!!
I am the luckiest girl in the world!


We reminded Evan and Eli that Santa doesn't come if your still awake.... We tucked them in bed and told them we would be awake for a few minutes longer... wrapping some last minute presents!! Evan only sneaked down the stairs once... for a drink of water :) luckily we heard his little footsteps on the stairs and quickly got him tucked away again! About 10 minutes later we heard Santa's sleigh bells, he was flying over Utah!! When I went up to see if the boys could hear them too...they were already fast asleep!!
(the sledding hills earlier that day had done the job!)

Merry Christmas in the morning!!!