Christmas Eve 2008

Christmas Eve, to me, has always been a very special night of the holiday.
As a child, it was filled with anticipation and magic. My parents and sister were great at convincing me that Santa was near. We left cookies for Santa, and I do believe Linda even made noises upstairs to convince me to hurry to bed.
As a teen, I recall the TV on with choirs, mom’s cooking in the kitchen, and Dad fiddling with lights and the train set. The blue lights on the tree and the house lights low, set the mood to give pause and regard Christmas for it’s holiness, Jesus coming to earth as a child.

Later, it was decided that our family would exchange gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day, saving the rest for extended family and friends on actual Christmas Day.

This Christmas Eve had all those elements, but took on a few changes…

For instance, instead of tapas, we started with seafood, to Leoni’s delight.

And tulips adorned our table with still our blue lights in the background.

There were some things that stayed the same..As in the past two years, Mike joined us.

Yay, Leoni gets a stocking too!

Petra has a laugh…

…over Miquel’s comfort zone socks. (that carried over all night)

Laura poses with her new Ravens shirt

Laura loves her new Amsterdam tote bag from Leoni and Petra…

…but maybe not as much as Miquel with his new Amsterdam hat?

Laura likes her jewelry tree, a mini Eiffel Tower

Mom smiles with her Dutch organ grinder musical figure.

These are a few of many highlights that made up our Christmas Eve.