Christmas Vacation - Christmas Eve - Entry #9

December 24th was magical.  You could feel the excitement in the air as people were wrapping, and shopping, and cooking and...  One of the funnest things to watch was Carmen and Morgan as they put the finishing touches on the Christmas Eve program they had been working on all week.  Of course, the grandchildren were totally psyched about all the Christmas activities. 

I won't bore you with the details.  I don't even know that I remember the details.  The whole day was just one whir of excitement, activity, and noise!

By evening, things were ready.  We started it off with our traditional big dinner.  We don't always have the same thing, but very often we enjoy a honey-baked ham with au gratin potatoes and all the trimmings.  Oh, and let's not forget dessert.  With the Arciniegas in Utah, we only had to seat 23 of us---just 23!  We decided not to use the breakfast room table.  Instead, we used the dining room table:



The right side of the table...



...and the left side of the table (we're missing our photographer, Rachel).

A kiddie table scrunched in the corner so the kids could be close by:



Anna, Hunter, Cade, and Colee were dinner guests at this table/

 And then Grammy and Grampy and the oldest kids joined together in the entry at this table:



What fun to share a meal with these four delightful kids---never a dull moment!


After dinner the program began.  We didn't play our traditional chimes (mine are hopefully still at a friend's house in Sugar Land, and Aunt Livi wasn't there with hers).  We did, however, have our second annual production of The Nativity, starring none other than nine of our oldest grandchildren!  Here are a few pictures from the play:


Aunt Abby was the guest narrator.



"And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem...To be taxed with his espoused wife, being great with child."



So here is our donkey (Cade) who is losing his costume, but you get the idea.



"The cattle are lowing"--- our cute cow who was in the stable is none other than William.

Okay, back to the story:


"And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them at the inn."



"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid."



And the angel said unto them, Feat not: for, behold,I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  (Never mind that there is now a cow abiding with the shepherds and the sheep on the hill.)



"And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger"



"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?  For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him...  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him:  and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."



The whole cast!  They did such a cute job.



Several of the girls played piano solos.  Morgan did a beautiful job on Silent Night.  Here, Carmen is playing Jingle Bell Rock which she had just learned and memorized in two days.  Anna played Jolly Old St. Nicholas.  Becca was prepared to play Away in the Manger, but opted out at the last minute.  Such a wonderful thing to see the girls learning to play and appreciate good music.

Then we spontaneously decided we needed to sing some more.



What started out as just kids around the piano morphed into a larger and larger group.  We sang everyone's favorites and also sang "Star Bright", a favorite of Marinda's family and one that I used to sing with my siblings in sacrament meetings in Vernal years ago.




Uncle Mark and Isaac are enjoying the night.



Eventually we put Isaac to sleep!

Once the program and the spontaneous singing were over, kids were sent to put on their jammies; and then for some reason, our family room resembled a version of "So You Think You Can Dance"!

Carmen and Morgan feelin' the beat!

And then the other kids joined in.

Abby and Steven teaching the kids some moves.



Carmen and Morgan trying it out



A jumpin' and a movin'...

Somehow in the middle of all this chaos, Conner was having his own fun on the other side of the couch playing ball with an old Christmas Tree ornament that one of the kids had made:

I think Marinda might have been rolling it, and then Conner would go get it



So cute!  All dressed in his jammies on his first Christmas Eve.



Eventually things calmed down, the Matt Morgan family left for their house, babies were put to bed, and the Daileys got a shot of their five before they went upstairs:



The girls all pretended to be asleep, but Isaac was just having too much fun!

All in all, a wonderful night full of the fun and magic of Christmas, but mixed with very spiritual moments as we remembered the real reason for the season---to commemorate the birth of Him whom we all love and on whom we depend---for everything.  His love was there as our family members shared this night together.  It was heavenly.  Soon the kids were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads (or however that goes).