...And to All a Good Night

December is one of my favorite months. Along with my birthday, I enjoy the exciting buzz of the Christmas countdown, decorating, getting our tree, unwrapping the ornaments and laughing at the stories behind each of them, hanging lights, shopping for loved ones and the anticipation of surprises. But more than any of those things I love the feeling when you are with your family on Christmas morning (jammies all around) and just hanging out! We did it with my parents on Christmas morning and we get to do it again (belated Christmas with my sister) in two weeks!

This year we also instituted a new "tradition" which was really special. On Christmas Eve we attended the service at our church with my parents and then had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party after dinner with balloons, cake and singing of course. It was especially meaningful because not only we were able to take our eyes off ourselves and focus on the true meaning of Christmas, but Eli also understood that we were celebrating Jesus! During the day we kept telling him we were going to have a birthday party for Jesus (Eli is a huge fan of birthdays...balloons, cupcakes and singing all rate very high on his list of favorites!) and that evening on our way to church Grant asked him, "Eli, whose birthday is it?" and Eli's reply was, "Jesus!". Of course he doesn't understand that Jesus' birth was an integral part of God's plan for our salvation, but he'll get that eventually. For now I'm just happy that he enjoys singing to Jesus and blowing out his birthday candles.

Christmas Eve (before assembling all the toys!)

Christmas morning at our house

Eli with his new train at Papa and Nana's house