Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday this year which was nice because that meant that Donnie had the whole day off. He usually works at least part of the day of Christmas Eve if it falls during the work week. The toys, gadgets, electronics, clothes, books, boots and jewelry that found their way wrapped and under the Christmas tree didn't get there by themselves. Someone has had to work hard to make it all possible (that would be Donnie). All that to say, it's nice when Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday since Donnie typically doesn't work on Saturdays.
This Christmas Eve was definitely different that years past Christmas Eves. For as long as I can remember, we've gone to my mother in law's for dinner on Christmas Eve. We didn't do that this year. Instead, we had all the people over to our house on Christmas Eve who we normally see on Christmas Eve. It was different but not worse or anything. Since we were also hosting on Christmas Day, I wanted everything to be really simple for Christmas Eve.
We went to the same Christmas Eve church service that we always do- the 4:30 pm service. I "sacrificed" us getting our sacrosanct second row seats because if the service went longer than an hour, we were going to have to skedaddle out of church early and I didn't want to do that from the second row. We needed to get to Chick-fil A by 5:45 to pick up our Christmas Eve dinner. Yes, Chick-fil A. What we lacked in a gourmet dining experience, we did not lack in good tasting food :). We picked up a nugget tray, a fruit tray and a tray of chocolate chunk cookies, a.k.a the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. People started arriving shortly after we came home. Everyone who came brought a lot of food so we ended up having all sorts of delicious food. The CFA cookies were a hit. People couldn't believe how good they were.
After eating we opened presents and then some of the us played Pictionary. I forgot how fun that game is (especially when you're on the winning team!). Everyone left by 10:00 pm. We still had some work to do for Christmas and we had to do a little bonding with one Rineer kid who would be leaving us on Christmas Day. More on that later...
All in all, despite the change in our normal Christmas Eve tradition, we had a good day. The church service was a poignant reminder of the true reason for the season. Spending time with loved ones after church was a reminder to be thankful for loved ones and the opportunity to celebrate with people we love.
This Christmas Eve was definitely different that years past Christmas Eves. For as long as I can remember, we've gone to my mother in law's for dinner on Christmas Eve. We didn't do that this year. Instead, we had all the people over to our house on Christmas Eve who we normally see on Christmas Eve. It was different but not worse or anything. Since we were also hosting on Christmas Day, I wanted everything to be really simple for Christmas Eve.
We went to the same Christmas Eve church service that we always do- the 4:30 pm service. I "sacrificed" us getting our sacrosanct second row seats because if the service went longer than an hour, we were going to have to skedaddle out of church early and I didn't want to do that from the second row. We needed to get to Chick-fil A by 5:45 to pick up our Christmas Eve dinner. Yes, Chick-fil A. What we lacked in a gourmet dining experience, we did not lack in good tasting food :). We picked up a nugget tray, a fruit tray and a tray of chocolate chunk cookies, a.k.a the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. People started arriving shortly after we came home. Everyone who came brought a lot of food so we ended up having all sorts of delicious food. The CFA cookies were a hit. People couldn't believe how good they were.
After eating we opened presents and then some of the us played Pictionary. I forgot how fun that game is (especially when you're on the winning team!). Everyone left by 10:00 pm. We still had some work to do for Christmas and we had to do a little bonding with one Rineer kid who would be leaving us on Christmas Day. More on that later...
All in all, despite the change in our normal Christmas Eve tradition, we had a good day. The church service was a poignant reminder of the true reason for the season. Spending time with loved ones after church was a reminder to be thankful for loved ones and the opportunity to celebrate with people we love.
The girls pose before we headed out to church
With mama...
Three Rineer Kids
And let there be Chick-fil-A...
Bev brought a bunch of cookies and Mark and Cindy brought baklava. Lots of sugar!! We also had chicken and noodles, sloppy joes, meatballs and cheesy potatoes.
The kids opened presents from Mark and Cindy and from Bev
Jacob and Mark and Cindy
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