Christmas Eve 2018

Christmas Eve was wonderful and we celebrated in the same way we do every year.

BB and Poppy arrived just in time to see Santa Claus drive by in the firetruck-

When you live on a cul-de-sac you get to see Santa twice!

Then we came in and they opened their secret Santa gifts.  Every year the children draw a sibling's name to buy a gift for.  They LOVE it and talk about it all year.  And they buy the gift with their own money.  This year Marky had Charlie-

Marky got him a die-cast car and an Auburn sweatshirt!

Julia had Tucker-

 She got him "Moon" and "Comet"- so now he owns every Celestial Buddy ever made.  :)  He was thrilled!

She also gave him the map pillow that she sewed for him.  He loved it and said, "a million thank yous Julia!"

Tucker had Julia-

He gave her a stuffed wolf pup and stuffed Siberian husky- these are her new favorite animals.

 And he got her a wolf picture- she loved it.

Charlie had Marky-

 He got Marky a laser tag set- they played with it all evening-

Then we had a delicious dinner- we always have steak, potatoes, beans, rolls and my Nanny's salad on Christmas Eve.

 And I made a Christmas trifle for dessert-

Then Marky built Anastasia's big Christmas present- he has put together everything she has!

 

We enjoyed sitting by the fire.  I didn't get a photo- but I did make a video of the children singing the "12 Days of Christmas", per tradition.  Marky's voice has changed, which made the song hilarious.  

We went driving and looking at Christmas lights and then we came home and Julia played us Christmas songs- she is a wonderful musician!

Then we got Annie in her Christmas jammies- these were Julia's 12 years ago.  :)

Can you tell we are crazy about this baby? :)

 After we put Anastasia to bed, Daddy read everyone two stories, finishing with The Christmas Story from the Gospel of Luke.  Another perfect Christmas Eve.  Thank you, Lord.

And we do love this tree out on the deck- the one that was too big for the house.  It's magical having a  giant tree outside the windows.  :)

After the children were in bed, BB, Poppy, Marc and I wrapped a million presents.  Then we watched Christmas Vacation and went to bed.