Happy Christmas Eve To All !!

Greetings and Happy Christmas Eve to everyone!

Can you believe that tomorrow is Christmas Day? Hopefully you are close to being ready for the "big event"...but if you are not, and you are feeling a bit of panic like I am, then close your eyes, take a deep breath...and try to focus on what many of us are really celebrating...the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. It's not just about one day, but about every day serving Him! And yes, as I am rushing about with lists in hand, I am reminding myself of this constantly.

Our family is having a wonderful holiday season so far, and we are looking forward to more to come. This is Esther Marie's FIRST Christmas in the United States with her new family.....as a U.S. citizen! What a special time to remember. She is full of wonder and is saying "wow" quite a bit. I had debated putting a tree up this year, but she is doing really great with it and amazingly, is leaving the ornaments on the tree. (no kidding) Emmie loves the lights on the tree and on the garland, the ribbons and bows, the candles on the mantle and the stockings. She loves the reindeer antlers (the ones on a headband that are red and green with bells) and yes, bows in her hair. She finally has enough hair for me to be able to pull it up on the top of her head to put a bow in it. She watches my every move and wants make-up too...but you have to draw the line somewhere! (giggle) I pretend to put some on her and she gets a little lip gloss for good measure.

We had a busy week during the last week of school before the holiday. Jasper was out of town for a couple of days, Joshua went on a field trip out of town, and MaryAlyce had three holiday parties in ONE day! On Thursday night after the Daisy meeting with MaryAlyce, Hannah decided she needed three gifts for friends, some candy canes, and she wanted to make Christmas cards for her friends. Yes, I took her to the drug store and Cracker Barrel for the items she needed. It is hard for me to say "no" to the kids at this time of year.

Christmas Eve.....we will follow our normal "traditions." We are in town this year and will cook and bake, wrap some presents, and go to the candlelight service at 5:00 p.m. at our church. Jasper will be singing as he does many years...which I always enjoy. This year he is singing with guitar accompaniment and I know it will be lovely. Afterwards, we greet friends, pass out Christmas cards, and then head home for our Christmas Eve party...just the six of us. We take pictures and then eat many of our favorite holiday snack foods....croissant sandwiches, stuffed eggs, chips and dip, cheese ball, jalapeno poppers, etc. I like to put out quite a spread for all of us to nibble on. We will bake some cookies for Santa (to put by the fireplace) and wait to see if he rides through our part of the neighborhood on the fire truck, throwing out candy. The children watch for him to come and get so excited when they see him! After that, we let the kids open a gift...and then it's off to bed for them so Mom and Dad can get things ready for the next day. Yes, it's a busy night....but a fun night!

I'm excited about this year with all four children...especially with the wonder-filled eyes of our latest addition...little Emmie! I hope you are having a very blessed holiday season and that these next days will be filled with joy, laughter and the happiness that only Jesus can provide.

Love to all from our family!