Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve, Scott's parents have a family party at their home. It is so great being with the whole family. We had a delicious ham, turkey, and other tasty treats that Scott's mom always makes. The kids really enjoy being with their cousins and every time we get together I think "why don't we do this more often?" We missed having Mike and Julie in town and know that some day they will leave California and make their way back to Utah. Now, if Mike could just get over the "it's cold" factor, we'd be all set!

Anyway, Scott's parents are always so generous and his mom starts shopping in January! She usually has all her shopping done by the end of summer! Good for her...she is so on top of things, not to mention that it is her all time, favorite holiday. I would assume that her vision of Heaven is full of Christmas trees, lights, and turkey as a staple meal all the time!

Later that evening, my mom, Sheila and the kids came to our house to open family gifts as well as decorate cookies for Santa. We had the kids get in the jammies, took some fun photos, and had a great time. We had all the kiddies sit on chairs and we would place presents in front of each of them. We would then do a "count down" to when they could open. When we got to 1, the kids would grab their presents and rip them open. It was such a joy to watch. The only thing that would have made it better is if my brother was there.

I had made the cookie dough the night before, however I doubled the batch...although I have the devine Kitchenaid mixer...it is not meant to handle that much dough. Let's just say it didn't turn out. My darling hubby was able to scrape together 12 cookies from the crumbly dough that actually looked decent. The kids had a great time decorating them, eating them, eating the frosting, eating the sprinkles...you name it, they ate it! I am hoping that this is a new tradition that we are able to start each year!