Christmas 2019 Part 3! Joy to the World! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Christmas really is joyful especially when you remember the reason we celebrate it in the first place.  I am so grateful for the birth of Jesus Christ, for the humble way that he came to earth and for his beautiful, perfect life.  He is my Savior, my salvation and my King and I love Him!

Our humble little nativity; Reese is Mary with baby Jesus, Carter is Joseph, Ellie is the angel, and Maggie is the shepherd with her little lamb and staff

Our Christmas eve was perfect!  Our table was beautifully set, our food was delicious, and best of all we had a lovely group of family members here to celebrate with us.  Glen, Kendi, Carter, Bess, and Maggie drove down from Boise, Joel, Erin, Eric and Livi all came from the Salt Lake area, Joni, Ellie and Reese came from Lehi, Louise and James came from Bountiful.  Garrett had to work but joined us early Christmas morning.

Our menu was so delicious:
Shrimp cocktail, Prime Rib, Yorkshire pudding, baked potatoes, green beans w/mushrooms, green salad, Martinelli's to drink, and a scrumptious hot moulten lava cake with vanilla ice cream!  Everyone helped with the food so it wasn't too difficult. Each bite was perfect.  So wonderful!

One of the best parts of the night was singing around the piano!

Glen read "The Night Before Christmas," we played some games and we all snuggled in our beds for a long winter's nap.

Christmas morning, we woke up and gathered in the family room for presents around 8:30.  Same group as Christmas Eve except without Joel and Erin and plus Garrett.  Everyone was sincerely happy with their gifts and it was a sweet morning.  We had our traditional Christmas breakfast of apple pancakes with cider syrup and sausages.

We had a lazy day watching a movie on Disney +, Togo.  Eric and I made potato cheese soup in bread bowls for dinner.  We had our traditional chocolate fondue for dessert.  So good!  We dipped strawberries, apples, bananas, marshmallows, angel food cake and clementines. We ate every last drop and bite!

 I didn't get any pictures of our amazing food, or opening presents, or really any Christmas Day fun.  Oh well, it was great.  I was enjoying my day rather than taking a lot of pictures.  Hannah sent me this cute one of Violet playing with the train Eric gave her and wearing the outfit we gave her.

The day after Christmas, we all went to lunch at the Village Baker, went bowling, had chicken tacos with salsa and homemade guac for dinner.  Kendi, Livi, Louise and I went to see "Little Women" that night.  It was great, but I don't think quite as good as the Winona Ryder version.  Everyone left on Friday and I did my volunteer shift at the MTC.  We sure enjoy our family, whatever the combination may be.  It always looks a little different but it's always wonderful.  Our joy is in our Savior and in our Family!  We love them all so very much.

Before we leave this year and hop into the next, I want to share what helped take the stress off the Christmas season hoopla for me this year.  Planning with Mike was a big part of it, and living the words from this quote helped me a lot:

We are looking forward to the New Year and new decade!  Excited to see what 2020 has in store for us and our loved ones.  2020, a year of plenty!  My friend Cindi, says that is their motto for the new year.  Maybe we'll adopt it too!