Christmas was SO different this year. Instead of going to church for our Christmas Eve service, the kids and I streamed the service and participated in our living room. No getting dressed up this year either.
Our church did decide to have an in-person service, but each service would be limited to 50 people. For some people, I know that Christmas does not feel like Christmas without attending that church service. For us, I knew it would still be just as meaningful. So the kids and I opted to do Christmas Eve at home in order to free up four spots in one of the services.
Before the service, we drove through our church's Nativity display and picked up our candles. When it came time to light them during the service, we were ready.
At the end of the service, we raised our candles during the last verse of Silent Night. And as I always do, I got a little choked up during that time and couldn't sing. Even at home with just four of us, that time was still so sacred and special.
Andy was pretty busy that night since he led three Christmas Eve services. We are normally all dressed up and I like to get a nice family photo. That didn't happen this year. If I've learned anything this year is that you just have to go with the flow. We won't always do things the way we've always done - and that's ok. Sometimes it is actually nice to do things a little different. But, since we didn't take nice photos that night, I forgot to charge my nice camera (which I usually use on Christmas Eve and morning to get nice photos). When I went to use it on Christmas morning, the battery was dead, so I just used my cell phone. These photos aren't quite as nice as what I usually get, but again 2020 - just be flexible.
The kids all slept in until at least 8:30am that morning. They've never been the types to want to get started at 5am. If anything, they wanted to prolong Christmas morning as much as they could. Neither Graydon nor Bella wanted to unwrap their presents first. Their mindset was that the first person to open their gifts is also the first person finish opening their gifts. Curtis, however, was more than willing to go first. Here he is taking in the whole scene that morning.
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Our poor tree looks a little sad. Two, possibly three strands of lights burned out throughout the month of December. And at some point, the star lost its middle spot. She has seen better days, but it was still a pretty sight.
Waiting patiently for everyone to come to the living room.
I guess Mabel technically received the first gift. We gave it to her so she would have something to occupy her while we enjoyed our Christmas morning.
I'm not sure how long these rope balls are going to last, but she seems to like them!
I think Andy would win any competition for the Ugliest Ugly Christmas shirt. Bella does not like this shirt, so after this photo, he changed into a nice ugly Christmas shirt.
Before we open gifts, we light the Christmas candle in our Advent wreath.
Curtis did the honors of emptying his stocking to show its contents to Bella and Graydon (their stockings had the same items).
Getting everything back inside was a bit of a challenge.
Let the gift-opening commence! We just have one person opening at a time in order to take our time and not rush through the whole experience.
In addition to gifts from us, the kids buy presents for each other. Graydon chose this hat for Curtis.
Curtis wanted to get Graydon a juggling shirt, but those are a rare find. So, he picked out a shirt at Target and I cut this vinyl image wiht my Cricut. The saying is so perfect for Graydon. Any time he finds at least three similar-sized items, he always juggles them.
Kids Gift Exchange Items:
Bella purchased a Star Wars puzzle for Graydon and wireless earbuds for Curtis. Graydon purchased a puzzle for Bella and a winter hat for Curtis. Curtis purchased the game Watchyamouth for Bella and the juggling shirt for Graydon.
Curtis was pretty excited to receive a $50 Play Station gift card in one of his boxes.
Bella's favorite gift was this Mario game for her Nintendo Switch.
Graydon got some new higher-quality juggling balls. This was his favorite gift.
After gift opening wrapped up, we had a breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls for brunch. That was followed by a game of Watchyamouth. Later in the afternoon, we had a ping pong tournament. Andy, of course, won.
Finally, that evening we watched the movie, "Soul," that just came out on Disney+. Christmas is my favorite and I always feel a little sad when the day comes to a close. The good thing that I like to remind myself is that, for us, the Christmas celebration is just getting started. There are still a couple of Christmases to celebrate in Wisconsin. Merry Christmas!
