Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always a good night. A night to dress up. A night to be with family. A night to go to church and celebrate our Savior's birthday. A night to anticipate. A night to....I could go on and on.

This year, Christmas has been a little different. I have felt more like our own little family this year, which has been good, and weird. So, in keeping with the weirdness, I asked Jesse if we should attend church a day early, allowing more space on Christmas Eve for visitors. He looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "no! It just wouldnt feel like Christmas if we didnt go to church on Christmas Eve." And truthfully, he was right.

So we did. We dressed up in our new clothes from my parents, and kept Ryleigh up a little later than normal to go to church. And since she was with Daddy, she did not mind.
Did you know that Jesse proposed to me on Christmas Eve? Yep. Six years ago, after we left the church service, with both families in tow, he pulled me into the chapel of the church, gave me a bible with my "new" name on it, got down on his knee, and asked me to be his wife.

So Christmas Eve is kind of special to us.

And Ryleigh likes it too.

We got home from church, bathed little miss and put her in her Christmas pajamas. Then I finished wrapping presents and Santa put together Ryleigh's gifts. We were having fun until the instructions got confusing and then Santa was ready for bed. =)

But, by the end of the night, the tree was full of presents, the stockings were stuffed, breakfast was ready to be put together, and the night was at peace.

(Please do not notice how incredibly dead my tree was this year. Apparently, they need water, and I never stopped long enough to water it. My bad.)

The night, as a whole, was quiet. We were not with family. There were not kids running around, excited about Santa. No big celebrations. It was just us. And ya know what? I really enjoyed it.