Merry Christmas Eve!

Today might be my favorite day of the Christmas season.  I love all the baking and bustle and time spent with friends and family.  And then getting to do Christmas Eve service.  Ahhhh.

Last night we went to my sister's house to do Christmas with my family.  It was so much fun and the two kids (cousins) got to play which they don't get to do nearly enough.

Just look what my sister in law, Judy, brought me:

There are a TON more of these, but they are all pictures of my mom and one of my brothers way back in the late 50s.  There are a couple pictures of my mom with my oldest brother while pregnant with my other brother.  I have to get these into an album, but just not sure how I'm going to lay them out yet.  But these are priceless to me.

Check out the gift my stepmom Bertie gave Jenna...

And do you know what this little trunk was filled with?

Hand made American Girl doll clothes!  FILLED!  And not just clothes, but handmade purses, jewelry, shoes and socks.  There was just outfit after outfit.  It is amazing.  It's truly a labor of love.

And Jenna's cousin Garrett had fun opening his presents:

The adults did a gift card exchange. Steve ended up with iTunes and I got Kohls.  I might be able to find something at Kohls.  :)

But I think the most exciting part of the evening was...

This was the finger food table...or the non-sweet table.  And there was some GOOD STUFF to be had on this table.  But the best food was here:

The SWEETS area.  Holy cow.  Can you believe all this food was the result of 4 families.  Probably more like 3, but we do love our foods.  This is my plate...ur...plateS.

You like my Diet Coke?  Drinking diet negates all the calories on those plates.  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

But my favorite part of the night was just spending time with my family.  We don't get to see them nearly enough.  And I love it.  For the first time in...well...EVER...that I can remember, we did a family picture.

This was just a test shot.  But looking at it just made me smile.  Then we decided to do a goofy picture.

Obviously some of us got into this more than others.  How about another try at a goofy picture...

OK, better.  And now for the actual picture.

Ah yes.  Gosh I love these people.



MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!