Christmas Eve is easily one of my favorite days of the year. We've created a rhythm over the years that's slow, simple, and so very special. It starts with a messy kitchen as I warm Ghirardelli chocolate over a double boiler for our staple hot chocolate dessert and prepare all the fixings for a make-ahead Christmas morning breakfast feast. Then the table gets fixed up, the house gets tidied and trimmed, and the four of us get a little fancy for Orchard's beautiful Christmas Eve service. My parents have joined us for years now and it adds such a special piece to it all. The kids always get extra excited and crazy before they show up, Mom and I always head to church an hour early to get seats (because you have to!), and Dad, Beau and the kids stay back and play Cribbage.
This year we attended the 3:00 candlelight service because we always feel a bit rushed after the 5:00 one. The service was wonderful as always and the music, Alice's message, and Silent Night by candlelight got us all in the right place for Christmas. The kids wait all year for their chance to hold those candles and I wait all year to watch their faces glow. Cruz was a pro this year and Mila was hilarious. First, she attempted to stand up on her chair all while holding the candle, and then after Papa helped her up, she proceeded to dance while holding the candle. The people in the row behind her went from laughing at her to clearing their coats, purses, and hair out of the way of her!
We got home around 4:30 and had the whole night ahead of us. I made a pretty cheese board, the kids ran around the house and played hide-and-seek with crazy Papa Curt, and Mom and I exchanged presents. Then we feasted on lasagna, bruschetta, prosecco, and baked hot chocolate.
We ended the night with all the familiars - the Santa tracker on Beau's phone, bittersweet goodbyes to Boone, Christmas Eve boxes of new pajamas and a new book for next year's collection, reindeer food on the driveway, and that one of a kind magic you only feel on Christmas Eve night. Cruz was very curious about what kind of cookie Santa preferred and left him a note with the specifics, Mila was convinced she was going to "sneak on him" in the night, and Beau, he just wanted them to go to bed!
Then they fall asleep and all is calm. I put on George Bailey, eat a Christmas cookie or two, and sit in the quiet of a night unlike any other. The night when Heaven broke through and God changed the world for eterntity.
Lots of pictures from our Christmas Eve night.
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