Christmas Eve

To this year's traditional Christmas Eve activities we added a campfire.  Grandma Ann likes a bonfire, but this was a little more tame and in the new fire pit that was built for Cyndi's girls camp last year.  It was fun and cozy. 

  We spent the rest of the day and night in more traditional Christmas Eve activities.   Besides the big birthday party, we baked Grandma Ann's traditional Swedish braided bread and delivered some to the neighbors (yummmmmm, I forgot how tasty it is),

we ate our pizza by candlelight, wrote our presents to the baby Jesus, reenacted the nativity, Grandpa read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Anna opened her Christmas jammies,

and we set out cookies/carrots/milk for Santa and the reindeer and went to bed.

The highlight of the evening however, was the Nativity Reenactment.  Anna loves the nativity.  Two years ago when we were at Fawn Hill for Christmas she made everybody do the play at least 3 times.  This year she had been thinking about the production long before we even left home for California.  One night, while still at home in Washington, she began to contemplate her role of Mary.  She decided she'd better cast the rest of the characters or someone might try and take her spot.  She thought about it, told me her decisions and then called people to let them know their assignments.  So, Anna was Mary, David was Joseph, her new doll was the baby Jesus (a last minute birthday gift replacement).  Todd was supposed to be the donkey, but he claimed back ailments and I had to fill in for him.

  At the last minute Rilla joined us and was designated a sheep.

Grandma Ann was the angel,

Grandpa Heber the narrator.

Cyndi and I were supposed to be shepherds, but Renato had joined us and I had to be the donkey, so Renato was a good sport and let us dress him up as a shepherd.

  Laurie, Michelle and Camille were supposed to be the wise men, but we let Todd take the less physically demanding role of wise man.

Grandma Ann and Camille provided the music.

It was a great play.

After all the festivities, and after bedtime, Santa arrived and really got everything set up pretty quickly.  I can't even remember what time we got to bed which goes to show that it couldn't have been that late, or I would have remembered:)