Christmas Eve~First Half

We had a great time at Christmas Eve this year for a number of reasons.  It was wonderful to be home and spend the holiday in our own house.  We have spent the last so many years driving from one side of the state to the other it was amazing to have some time to actually enjoy the day.  It was also great to spend Christmas Eve with Charlotte.  She is so awesome and truly made our day great. 

We began the day with some last minute preparations.  Unfortunately we have had water leaking into our house in the kitchen and dining area which added a little disaster to our preparations but everything got cleaned up...although the leaking has not stopped.  Never the less it pushed the cooking back a little as I needed to be able to prepare food in a sanitary kitchen! 

While getting Charlotte ready for her bath she took quite an interest in the presents under the tree.  Especially the ones addressed to her!  She was definitely prepped and ready to open when the time came.

Charlotte had been putting her nap off all morning and got super mad while we tried to get her dressed resulting in one full fledged fit.  Jim finally got her to sleep right when Joy and Barb got here so unfortunately it didn't last long.  She still was happy camper though.

I was in the kitchen getting together everything that needed to be made.  We had ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls.  We also had a few appetizers while everything was cooking.  Not much got eaten so we had far too much left over.  In the future I think we will keep it smaller so we don't waste so much. 

After we ate we took some pictures by the tree.

Then it was time to open presents!

Charlotte had quite a blast opening and got some great gifts.  We all were quite lucky in that category.  Before long, our little beauty was tuckered out and sleeping in her Daddy's arms.

Before long it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve service at church.  We got Charlotte all prettied up in her Christmas dress and she was gorgeous.

When we left for church the night was perfect.  It had begun snowing and was beautiful outside.  We arrived and attended a wonderful service as usual.  The Christmas Story was touching and the candlelight Silent Night was breathtaking.  It was a great ending to our extended family portion of the evening.