Twas the Night before.......

Our family has many, many Christmas traditions. I love traditions, they give me things to look forward to as the holidays approach. On Christmas Eve we make a very large, scrumptious dinner and then invite someone over to share in our wonderful feast. This year we invited our dear friends and neighbors over. They have 4 adorable boys (ages 1-11) whom we love so much. Their sweet family have become "FAMILY" to us. We love them like they were blood related! They are amazing people who have found a permintant place in our lives as well as our hearts. We had a good time just hanging out and eating, visiting and laughing as the kids all played. My kids love having "little" kids to spoil and love on. Its fun to watch them all interact and goof off and have a great time. After we said goodnight to our company, we began the traditional opening of the "Christmas PJ's"...the kids always know that I make them PJ pants to wear to bed on Christmas eve, even though I wrap them all up and make them guess what they are getting. They seem to love their PJ's, so I keep making them (Deron even said he wanted a pair...after he saw how comfy the kids's were). After everyone was nestled all snug in their jammies we sat down and read the Christmas Story from the scriptures. When our kids were little, they would act it out with costumes and the whole 9 yards...but since they are teenagers now, they listen quietly from the couch. I don't know if its normal for teenagers to get excited and anticipate the arrival of Christmas morning, but my kids do! They love it. They get up early, around 4:30am and lay around and play games with each other until they can come down to open presents (which is usually around 6:30-7:00). The one morning that I would allow them to sleep in and they are chomping at the bit to get up and get going! Deron had been sick for a few days, so I had been sleeping out in the family room on the couch, hoping not to catch what he had (all the good that did!!)...so I was out with the christmas tree, the lights and all the gifts as I slept on Christmas Eve...sort of like in my own "Christmas Land". It was kind of fun to wake up to the Christmas lights and feel like a kid again, even if it was just for a minute or two.