Christmas Eve continued...........

Christmas Eve night we started new traditions as well.

We knew that it would be hard with so little family here this year....

with out Bubba... Uncle Bill....

and others that have moved away.

So, we decided to invite friends that are like family to join us on Christmas Eve.

Regan figured out the whole Santa thing last year....

;(

Here was our talk before the night......

Me:"Regan don't you dare say anything to any of the other kids... you hear me!!!"
Regan:"What do y...ou mean... about who Santa REALLY is mom??"
Me: "Yeah Regan don't ruin this for the other kids OK... if not Santa will not bring you a presnt."
Regan: "Sure Mom... I got it... my lips are sealed.... tell Pa Pa I said thanks!"
 
Love her. ;)

Then it was time for the Nativity........

After Luke was read it was time for Jammies and good byes.....

Thank you sweet friends for sharing our Christmas Eve with us and

making just a little bit more.....

bearable.

 

Christmas Eve Fun {Part 2}

Let me first start off by saying that Bubba is doing so much better!!! He is still not back to his old self yet BUT we are still making progress every day. We are getting WAY more smiles :) The hard part now is that he is feeling better and wanting to be active but his body is not ready for that. We are hoping that we can salvage this Christmas Vaca with a trip to Disney at the end of the week. {fingers crossed for that one!!!} Sweet Regan has been so patient that we have not had our gammed packed vaca days like we normally do. So, now that we all know that Bubba is perkin' up I thought I would get back to some FUN Christmas memories! I shared Christmas Eve part one at Uncle Bill's and now I will continue with the celebration at our home. :) I LOVE traditions... just LOVE them! I LOVE that Jason's family started some wonderful traditions YEARS ago and we continue with them still.... pretty awesome, right!?!? When Bubba was little we would go to Nana and Pa Pa's home for Christmas Eve but over the years it has become to difficult to go out with Bubba at night. Luckily, Jason has a wonderful family that is willing to SQUEEZE into our tiny cozy home to celebrate.

 We sing Christmas Carols while Pa Pa sneaks off the garage to change.

After we sang for a bit Santa snuck in the back door!

 I am not sure who was more excited to see Santa.......

 The kids........

 or Stanley! :)

Stanley LOVED Santa and would not leave his side.

Regan reading her letter to Santa that he brought with him.

Her questions were.....

How many elves do you have?

How many kids are on the good and Naughty list?

Do you make summer runs?

{got to love her for trying!} 

 

You have to get the token family picture with Santa right.

We watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas and then said good night to our family.

The kids put on their new PJ's from Maw and Paw, left Santa cookies and milk, a carrot for the rudolph, and then it was time for bed!



One very {special} Christmas Eve

There are simple little things that make Christmas special. One of those things is being with family. I love that every year our tiny cozy home is filled to its capacity with family and love. I was sad at the thought of some of our family members not being here to celebrate with us. Do you remember LAST YEAR?? Well, we were able to "break" Uncle Bill out of his rehab hospital to be with us on Christmas Eve. We knew that we would not be able to do that this year, his health is worse, and his home is 30 minutes away. {Just too big of a risk} So, we decided that since we could not bring Uncle Bill to Christmas Eve we would bring Christmas Eve to Uncle Bill. Nana made one his favorite comfort foods, good ol' home made mac and cheese. :) Uncle Bill had a home nurse for a short time when we thought he would be able to stay in his home, she came to see him while we were there. Seriously, everyone that meets him falls in love, and despite only working with him for a few short months she keeps in touch and loves him. Well, his sweet nurse and boyfriend had no idea what they were getting into when they came to visit him. wink! After eating some yummy chocolate cake it was time for our Presley family tradition, reading Luke 2 and acting it out.

 Regan was the Angel

 Andrea was Mary

 Bubba was a Sheperd

 Nurse's boyfriend was Jospeh

 Great Grandma Jo, Aunt C C, and Bubba were the Sheperd

{We ended up getting a big audience that wanted to see our nativity fun}

 Uncle Bill and his nurse were the wise men

 After we finished up reading the story of the birth of Christ from the Bible Nana and PaPa sang Oh Holy Night. They have voices of angles!!! Hearing them sing this song is a favorite Christmas tradition to many!!! Everyone in the home LOVED it!!!

 Uncle Bill's face says it all. He loved it!

Uncle Bill would always play the piano with them every year, it was sweet to see him moving his fingers as they sang. I know the he was playing along with them in his heart. :)

I am so grateful that we were able to spend Christmas Eve with Uncle Bill celebrating the birth of Christ. I am not sure how many more Christmas Eves we will have with him and I do not take that for grantid. I feel so blessed to have him in my life.

{More Christmas Eve fun to come. Hubs had to work in the  morning while we celebrated with Uncle Bill but he was home for rest of the fun!}

Twas the night before Christmas......

and this little cozy home

was filled with.....

LAUGHTER

SINGING

EATING

SMILES

CELEBRATION

SANTA

LOVE

AND guess what??.....

We even "stole" a special guest for the night.

{Ok, so we didn't steal him but we got to take

him from the rehab facility to celebrate with us!}

{Uncle Bill} 

Santa made a stop in his busy

schedule to see the kids..... 

Little ones........ 

And BIG ones........ 

Then it was time to celebrate

the birth of Jesus 

By reading Luke 2 and acting it out. 

Our AMAZING King Harad....

Christmas just wouldn't have been the same with out him! 

Then it was time for GAMES.... 

Minute to win it games.....

{Get the cookie from for head to mouth with no hands.} 

{Pull the tissue out with one hand at a time} 

{How many marshmellows can you fit in your mouth??} 

It was an OH SO FUN night!!!

Thank you family for coming to our cozy home to celebrate.

It makes it so much easier with Bubba....

we have his meds., machines, and everything he needs here. 

Every Christmas Eve the kids get to open one presetn,

from Maw and Paw.

It is always the same thing....... 

New Jammies!!!

{Thank you Maw and Paw}

Our little Superman....

 He can save me any day!

Cookies, Milk, and carrots were left....

and the kids went to bed.