Christmas Eve 2009

It is important to both Herb and I that our family is able to focus on the things that make Christmas truly meaningful and that our kids come to really appreciate the Christmas Spirit. One of the decisions Herb and I made when thinking about how we wanted to celebrate Christmas, was that Christmas Eve would be spent together as a family and we would focus on the true meaning of Christmas: our Savior's birth. Christmas day would be set aside for fun, presents and friends. With that in mind, we took the kids to see the lights at the Washington DC temple and visitor's center on Christmas Eve. We talked about the nativity story and spoke with the kids about some of the gifts the Savior has given us through his birth and life on this earth, including the blessing of being sealed together in the temple as an eternal family.

At the visitor's center we watched a short video depicting the Nativity story, we walked through the large display of creches from around the world and visited the outdoor manger scene. It was a nice way to focus on the Savior's birth and be together as a family.






After arriving home, we allowed the boys to open one present; super hero pajamas, which they couldn't wait to put on. Boys are so easy to please! The plan was that the kids would then go to bed and Herb and I would sit down to a nice, romantic dinner, but we got home later then we'd planned and the boys were hungry and excited to see the lobsters they had purchased earlier that day with their dad at the sea food market in southwest DC. So we all sat down to a delicious dinner of lobster, Alaskan King crab legs, salad and bread. We ended late and it was way past the boys bedtime, but enjoyable nonetheless. Next year, however we'll start the tradition of a romantic dinner for two on Christmas Eve.