Christmas Eve...Day & Night

The falling snow made this day perfect!!

It has been a busy and fun Christmas Eve day and night!  Trace was home to enjoy the day with us until he had to leave for work at 2:00 p.m.  We enjoyed the morning together with "coffee time", a little tv, playing, and a nap (Daddy & Aubri).  One of the things on the agenda for the day was to do some baking.  I didn't do much this year, not like year's past, but a little was accomplished.  Aubri joined right in and helped a bit too!  We made cookies, candied pretzels, candied peanut butter sandwich crackers, candied oreo cookies, and Rolo pretzel yummies.  I had good intentions of making peanut butter balls too, but that didn't happen.

 Snowmen, of course!

 Baking Buddies!

 The BEST part of baking...taste testing!!

 She thought they were good enough to eat!  So did Daddy.

 Watching the cookies bake.

 Putting on her fancy heels is something that works well with whatever she's doing...baking, playing, reading!

 She paid a lot of attention to her flowers today!

 Ellie gets lots of hugs and kisses from Aubri!

She has so many different expressions...I wish I could capture them all!

Another something I want to do every year as a family (or at least the kids and me when Trace is working) is go to the Christmas Eve service at church.  This was something special I vividly remember when I was a kid.  We always went to the midnight service as a family and it was wonderful.  We would all get dressed up, drive about a half hour to church then come home and open one gift before going to bed!  I loved Christmas Eve as a child and it would not have been the same without church.

So, it started tonight...Aubri & went to our Christmas Eve church service at 6:00 p.m.  It was great to be gathered with other believers lifting high the name of Jesus!  I really want our children to know the real reason for the season and not get wrapped up in only the gifts.  I love this time of year, I love Christmas, I love family, I love Jesus.

 We got dressed up (even me...in a skirt) and headed out in the snow!

Aubri LOVED being in the snow to get a few pictures!  I wish we would have ventured out in it today in our boots and snowsuit.  Maybe tomorrow.