Christmas Eve

 This year Christmas Eve was so relaxed and just perfect.  Chant worked until 12:00 and then we made a "quick" stop at Smith's.  When we got home Chant and the kids made sugar cookies while I read The Forgotten Carols: A Christmas Miracle for Isaac and Eliza.  This is a tradition that is very special to me.  The Forgotten Carols have been a part of my Christmas since Micheal McLean first wrote them and started performing it.  I wanted to be able to share this tradition with my children, but the original book was too long.  I found this version for kids last year and I was thrilled.  While we read it, we listened to the carols and then I asked the kids questions about who was singing and what their song was about.  They get it.  And I love it!  I cried, like I always do, so Brinnley had to read the last page for me.

After dinner we opened our Christmas Eve present.  Jammies, of course!  It was so funny when Brinnley opened hers.  She got a sweatshirt and sweatpants.  There was a sticker on them that says, "NEW and IMPROVED FABRIC." Brinnley read that out loud with a surprised, enthusiastic voice.  It was awesome!    

Monkeys, of course.  And Toy Story.

After getting our jammies on, we all bundled up with blankets and got in the car to drive around and look at lights on houses.  We were in a neighborhood on the Herriman hill just driving slowly looking at houses.  We turned a corner and standing in someone's front lawn were 8 deer just munching on the grass and trees.  We were floored!  We watched them for a while before Chant rolled down the windows.  We were so quiet and we could hear the deer making that weird clicking sound.  After a while we kept driving and 4 more deer were in someone else's yard.  It was crazy!  The kids were so excited we got to see Santa's deer and they wanted to go home so they could get in bed.  They were afraid Santa would skip our house because they weren't in bed.  Such a magical memory.  Kids really do make Christmas!