'twas the Night Before Christmas

Christmas-time is full of traditions for our family, immediate & extended. Christmas eve-day we went over the mountain and through the 'hoods to Grandma & Grandpa's.


First we went to a local nursing home where ALL of the cousins, as well as the adults put on a musical "talent" show Christmas program for the residents.



The boys played their holiday recital pieces,



as well as a few other numbers in their repertoires.



Landon and Keri performed a duet, while Kim nearly got run over by an elderly man eagerly "shuffling" to the restroom.



The show also included a couple of young soloists, a recorder, and a number of carols and hymns. The program lasted nearly an hour, and was concluded by a moving male chorus grand finale of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". It took a while, but the applause finally dropped to a dull roar when they realized we couldn't do an encore - but we did acquiesce to signing some autographs ;-}

Afterwards we took time to shake hands and wish everyone a merry Christmas, and it was obvious that they were just happy for the visit. Hopefully we were able to teach the kids that Christmas is not only about presents, but also about giving, service, and being grateful for family, friends, health, a warm home, clothes on our back, and food on the table.

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a yummy dinner, after which we had a fun white elephant present activity, followed by other family gift exchanges.



After the pumpkin pie, we carefully hurried home on the snowy roads to get ready for Santa. Landon and I did our (traditional) Christmas eve newspaper delivery - complete with jingle bells hanging from the paper bag! We shoveled some snow and put the finishing touches on Christmas as the midnight hour slipped by unnoticed.