Ah, Christmas Eve. We were so lucky to have Kevin and Vicki join us for the evening. We really love having them so close to us. I love that my girls are creating such great memories with them. We had a lovely dinner with a beautiful table that Hazel helped me decorate.
We made these Santa hat brownies for our treat. I loved them!
Ginger cookies are some of my very favorite. I've got Hazel hooked.
We're ready for you Santa!
Then we opened our Christmas Eve presents (jammies) and read the story of the birth of Christ in the scriptures with candles lit all over the room. I still remember doing that (minus the candles) at the bishop's house on my mission in Livermore. It was the best Christmas I'd ever had because the spirit was so strong. I've tried to emulate that in our little family ever since.
Kevin read "The Night Before Christmas" to the girls before bed.
And one of the very best parts of the night: Ellie took her first few steps! She did it right as we were posing for one of these pictures. Then she did it the rest of the night and got up to about four or five steps!
What a lovely Christmas Eve.
