Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Our BEST Christmas Eve EVER!!!

I have continued to wake up every single morning for the last two weeks full of anticipation for the coming day! Christmas Eve was no exception! 


We were part of the Christmas Eve service at church and I did NOT want to be late so OF COURSE I woke up early!! 


We were supposed to be there at 10:00 for a mike check and we were there at 9:39!
Unheard of!!
Amber, Mike and the Quads arrived shortly thereafter.
I don't have photos or video but it was a wonderful experience to be a part of the Christmas Eve Sunday Morning Service. Amber lit the Advent candles and Mike, Amber, Harrison and I read the scriptures. I will long remember this.

Louis Dean and I returned home and proceeded to set up for Christmas Eve Dinner and the tree.


We had plenty of appetizers on hand for everyone to nibble on.


Amber, Mike and the quads arrived first!


They were followed by my son, Jesse, and his children.


Then Summer, Rayne and Sabrina arrived.
That made 15 for Christmas Eve Dinner 2017!


My youngest son, Benjamin, was at the Dallas Cowboys game!


And, sadly, my beautiful daughter in law, Leigh Ann was down with a bad case of the flu.
If only they had been here, this Christmas Eve would have been perfect!
But then - nothing is ever quite perfect - so we enjoy the beauty of what we have.


The first thing on the agenda was the traditional Rolling of the Sugarplums!
Nearly everyone participated!
The younger and older grands together!


Flashback to Sam and Faith in December 2008!



And then Amber and Summer together with Faith!
I introduced a 'new' sugarplum - Orange Coconut Snowballs.
That did not go over well.
Sugarplums continue to reign! The recipe goes back to 1966!


My son is a coffee connoisseur and he brought his grinder and brewing methods over to share with us. He made me two different cups of coffee using two different brewing methods.
I do not remember all he taught us about it but the coffee was excellent and the last pic in the collage on the right is called the bloom.


All eight of my grandchildren were here and they played so well together!
They totally entertained themselves! 
They range in age from 15 years old to 5 and who knew they could all bond like they did???
Levi loved to play 'The Ants Go Marching' when he was little! So he pulled it up on the computer!
They all crowded around!


Levi when he was little!!!
I remember how much he loved that song!

The Dallas Cowboys were playing so at halftime we gathered around to eat dinner!


This is the table for my grown children.
I love for them to have this time to visit and reminisce about Christmases Past and just have some time for each other.  Normally, Louis Dean and I eat in the den with the grandchildren, however.....
since we were missing Ben and Leigh Ann, we joined them this year!


This is the quad's table.
Note the place cards!
Logan made those.
Logan loves all things written or drawn.
She is such a little artist!
This is the den coffee table. 
The quads used to stand up here to eat but now that they are 5 years old.....we brought in the little chairs their Aunt Sherry and Uncle Dean got them and they were able to have a sit down dinner!


The four older grands sat at the den game table.
My beautiful Faith!


And our lovely little Rayne!


And my special little Levi!!


I am so enormously proud of my first born grandson, Sam!

He joined in to the younger grands game of Hide and Seek!'AND he WON!
He is nearly 6 feet tall and where in the world would you hide in MY house??
Behind a heavy curtain in the guest room!
Logan was the other winner.
She hid herself under the den coffee table!


Time for the Christmas Tree!!!
I love how my Summer Dee smiles!
Make no mistake. 
She was in a great deal of pain but she puts on a happy face!


My two oldest grands.
Their gifts were Texas Trash.......


and $$ that smelled like Worcestershire Sauce!!

I had the BEST Christmas Eve ever!
My children!
ALL of my grandchildren!
My heart is so full and so thankful!!!
I am being real when I say that I have had my share of stressful Christmases.
Many of us have been there and experienced that.
God has given me the desires of my heart and I am ever so grateful for the peace and harmony and unity in my family.
This has been my best Christmas Eve ever!!!






20 comments:

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

So very happy for you all Linda. A blessed time together. Hugs and Love.
Joy

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Beautiful family, Linda! What a special time you had together!

Kathy said...

This is just as it should be: a loving family gathered together and all getting along. You are truly blessed.

Aloha Acres said...

What a beautiful family and a beautiful Christmas. This warms my heart for you. Happy New Year.

Linda said...

I think you said last year was your best Christmas ever!! You’ve set a high bar to meet every year. It’s wonderful you were able to have such a wonderful time with family.

Bluebird49 said...

How lovely, Linda!I think as we get a little older, the more we treasure things. All things great and small. I am so thrilled you all you grandchildren and all but two children.
We are both so richly blessed!

Ryoma Sakamoto.Japan said...

I hope you and your family are having a wonderful holiday full of good food and good cheer.
Have a very Merry Christmas, and we wish you all the best in the New Year, too!
Ryoma.

Vee said...

So lovely! I noticed right away that Sam has shot up quite a bit since I last saw him. Wonderful that the grands all enjoyed their time together at your place. Faith is such a pretty girl...Levi so handsome...Harrison looks so much like his dad; Logan is growing tall; Kailey so adorable peeking out with a grin; Trystan sweet smile... Just lovely family photos of all. How could I forget Rayne? She looks adorable in her Christmas outfit. I do not understsnd the call of the Cowboys, but he looked as if he was having fun. Hope your daughter-in-law feels much better very soon. (We had an extended arm of the family all wind up in the ER just before Christmas and they were all admitted. That was scary. Apparently, the flu shot this year only addresses 10% of the flu varieties. Yikes! Anyway, it was The Lord and Tamiflu to the rescue.) Merry on, my friends!

Susie said...

Linda, I loved reading this. It just made me feel as if I were right there. I remember the children. They all are beautiful. How they have grown too. I am thrilled you had a wonderful Christmas filled with family and love. You and LD are the leaders showing them all how to love. Blessings to you and your family, love you, xoxo, Susie

Latane Barton said...

A beautiful family gathering. What more could you wish for! Hope DIL got better quickly.

Changes in the wind said...

What a wonderful time for all.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

It does look like a very merry Christmas at your house. I agree how wonderful it is to have family together. My grands ranged in ages 17 to 2 years old when we got together and they all get along well too. I think the older ones love being able to act like little kids again. That quote about a happy family all wrapped up in each other is one of my favorites ! Merry Christmas!

MadSnapper said...

i can see and feel and almost hear and smell your joyful celebration just looking at your photos.

Curtains in My Tree said...

Oh what beautiful family pictures
Love all of them
It was a blessed get together even the Dalls Football guy haha

Cheapchick said...

Late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! So glad your Christmas Eve was all you hoped it to be

Jan said...

So happy you had such a wonderful Christmas Eve! Getting to participate in the Christmas Eve service is indeed something special. My husband and I sing with the Praise Team for it every year and we love it!

Ginny Hartzler said...

This was my prayer for you Linda. And everyone looks so wonderful and happy! What a treat to see the Quads, they look so sweet in their Christmas sweaters. Goodness, so I have counted at least three tables! We had two.

ellen b. said...

Happy to hear you had such a wonderful Christmas celebration! Blessings!

Robyn said...

Looks like it was a truly beautiful day.. You are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Merry Christmas! :)

Judy said...

So happy for you...to have all your children and grands together for Christmas! It looks like a lovely and blessed time together. I wouldn't mind testing your sugar plums...along with one of those specially brewed cups of coffee! :)