Christmas Eve 2011

It was so nice to finally get and to enjoy all the best parts of Christmas. Life slowed down once the kids were out of school. Oh yes- that was sooo nice :)

I took on Christmas Eve dinner (Amy took Christmas Day) this year. I decided on Fondue. I've only had fondue a couple times and never made it and I thought it'd be fun. It was a lot of preparation, partly because I had to get a lot of ingredients at the store, but really yummy once it was done. One of my best ideas for dipping was those little bite sized potatoes. Since we had so many people we kind of went in shifts. (aka, whomever was around started eating without informing the others it was ready.)And of course the chocolate was a big hit.
After that we all went to carol at a rest home facility in Amy's ward. The kids made pictures for them and passed them out. It seemed like they appreciated it and I really want to try to do that more often during the year.

For their Christmas Eve gift the kids were all so sure that they would get pj's (since they do 95% of the time). They had all really wanted "Pillow Pets" and seeing their pajama drawers stuffed full, I thought it might be a better option. They all loved them and were pleasantly surprised :)
After that we postponed the Nativity play since it was late (but then forgot the next day-oops) plus I had a TON of wrapping to do, and said good-bye to cousins. Then the kids got busy on Santa's cookies and milk.

Next the kids went to bed and tried to fall asleep as we tackled the mound of presents. Finally, after a lot of work and preparation...
We were ready for Christmas morning...

Here's to hopefully making it to 6 am!