Christmas Eve...

Our family has a special early dinner on Christmas Eve. Later in the evening, we either read the story of Christmas(Luke 2) or go to a candlelight service at our church. That night, we open presents. Then, on Christmas morning, Santa comes and we have stockings... This works great for me because I don't have to worry about getting a Turkey in the oven on Christmas morning or trying to prepare a feast for later Christmas day. We all get to relax, enjoy our time together, our gifts and eat leftovers! A newly added tradition at our house is Gingerbread house decorating on Christmas day.

This year, we had several visitors for our Christmas Eve dinner; some expected and some were a last minute addition. My friend Linda and her girls came over. Linda's husband is deployed right now. We also have some neighbors that were headed out of town for Christmas and their little girl got sick on the way, so they turned around and came back home. They didn't want to get everyone else sick. I invited them to come make a plate and take it home. (We didn't want to get sick either.) Lynn was so glad she didn't have to cook. Also, we invited the mail man to dinner. I stepped outside as he was delivering some packages and asked if he got a break for lunch. He said that he would just be delivering all day and that he didn't really get a break. I invited him to come back at 2 o'clock and make a plate to take with him. He came back and we made him a plate for the road. It was really fun to share our meal with others this Christmas in an unexpected way.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!