We were invited over to the Kirklands house for Christmas Eve. We had a really fun time spending the evening with another family from the ward and joining in their families traditions.
We came over for dinner. Their tradition is always to have spaghetti and bread sticks. It was pretty good. After dinner the kids ran around and played while we waited for Santa to come and visit.
The kids were so excited that Santa was coming. I was so surprised to find that Ethen was not afraid In fact he loves Santa and wanted to sit on his lap the whole time. When it was time for the next child to take a turn, he would try to sit on his lap before the others.
Santa talked to each child. Asked if they were good and what happen to them during the year. Here is Elizabeth showing Santa all the teeth she has lost this year. Jocelyn asked Santa for a doll house and Elizabeth asked Santa for an Ipod. Umm. I don't think so.
We took a few pictures of both families with Santa. This is the only one that turned out all right. Got to love the huge Love Sack they have. It's huge and takes up about half of the living room. The kids love it.
After Santa left, the kids did some re-enacting. The Kirkland boys were so cute. The two older boys took off their shirts and climbed up on the entertainment center. Staci, their mom, handed us plastic baggies. Their dad read about Samuel the Laminate up on the city wall foretelling about the birth of the Saviour. The boys copied what he said. Then we got to throw our baggies and cotton balls at them like the Nephites with their arrows, but none of our stuff could hit them. I wish I had taken a picture of that. It was really cute.
Next,the kids dressed in Nativity costumes. Jocelyn was Mary, Elizabeth was a Wiseman, and Ethen was suppose to be baby Jesus. But he didn't do a very good job of laying down and staying put. We read a short children's book while they acted out what was being read. They did a really good job. They took their parts pretty seriously.
The kids were then able to open up one gift that night. They picked their presents from Aunt Megan. Their cousin Brighton coloured pictures on wash clothes for each of them. What a really cool idea. They are excited to use them in the bath. Now lets just home the permanent marker is really permanent! One tradition that the Kirklands do that I really like and would like to copy is their "Frosty the Snowman gift". They each get to open a new pair of PJ's when the first snow comes. It had snowed a few days ago, so they got to wear them for us that night. Also hanging on the front door is a huge decorative metal key. If you don't have a chimney, then Santa gets to use his magic and shrink the key to get into their house for the night. I might steal that idea too.
Thanks you Kirklands for the wonderful Christmas Eve and all the fun!
It wasn't too late when we left their house so we took a drive to see Christmas lights. Found an awesome Neighbourhood with some neat lights and decorations. It began to snow the closer we drove to the lake, and the snow flakes were huge. We loved it. Our Christmas Eve was a wonderful evening and kids were ready for Santa to come.
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