Christmas 2009

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go see a movie. So we went to Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." We all thought this was a very cute story with fabulous music. It helped that I'd been to New Orleans. I have visited the French Quarter, tasted gumbo and attended a Mardi Gras. So it was fun to see these places introduced to the kids in cartoon fashion.

Our next stop was the Olive Garden. A big thanks to all their employees who had to work on Christmas Eve. We really appreciated it!

The final stop of the evening was to a Christmas Eve Non-denominational service. This event was held at the Dixie Center and the head count was 2500 people. We told the kids to have a open mind as non of us knew what to expect. These are the kids reaction to the very first song.

Mom, are you sure about this?

Mom, it sounds a little wild!

Hmmm, do we have to stay for the whole thing?

This is a short video clip. You can't see much of anything, but you can hear the band. Let's just say it was quite different from what we're used to. We could appreciate the music, but had to leave half way through the preacher's sermon, he got a little out of control. I was telling my mom that he was supposed to be giving a message on the meaning of Christmas, Megan quickly pipped in with, "I don't think he knew what it was!"

The kids were very anxious to get home and open their first Christmas gift. It's a tradition to receive homemade P.J.'s.

Here's the final result. Two pairs for each of them.

The evening was finished off by reading the REAL Christmas story from the scriptures.

Then Ter and I worked on a puzzle while the kids tried to wind down and go to bed. Um, yeah, whatever! I think they finally conked out at 1 a.m.