Christmas Eve!!!

It was the perfect day!  We had such a nice dinner with the Sister Missionaries, Mom and Allison and Joshua.  I asked the Sisters what they'd like for dinner, or if they had any traditional dishes that they wanted.  They responded by saying they wanted breakfast for dinner!!!  Soooo, we made crepes!  They were so yummy and we had all the toppings.  The Sisters helped cook the crepes too!  We had so much fun and laughter filled our home!  What a Christmas to remember! 

The house looks so magical...

...everything's ready for our Christmas Eve dinner (breakfast!).

Our tree, all ready to go for the big day tomorrow!!

 Got Megan's Christmas card in the mail today!!!  Just in time!

(with her cute companion Sister Haertling.)

 

All the Christmas cards we've received!  It's so fun to get these in the mail!!!

 Sister McKenzie (front) and Sister Harper!  We love these Sisters!  They're so much FUN!!!

We love the spirit they bring into our home!

 

 This was funny!  This was right after Sister McKenzie almost burned our house down!  Hahaha! No, she didn't mean to, but the butter wrapper caught fire as she was greasing her pan for the next crepe!

We joked around about this for the rest of the night and she took it well!  She's so much fun!! 

Sister Harper was a pro at making crepes... enjoyed making them before her mission!  She even flipped them without a spatula!!  We were all really impressed!



 Dinner was so great!  We went around and told how our testimonies grew during 2016 and ended up having such a spiritual conversation and feeling in our home.  Thank you to Megan for the idea.  She'd asked us to  think about how our testimonies have grown this year, and then share with her during her Skype call tomorrow...so I thought it would be neat if we "practiced" at dinner with the Sisters.  I am so glad we did!!  I love the things that were shared and the testimonies that were borne!

 

 And of course, there's always some fun in the mix!  Here's Katelyn stuffing a huge

crepe into her mouth, and Sister McKenzie egging her on!  What a fun night!!!!!!!



Here is another special tradition...reading Luke 2 by candlelight!

(This was Brooke's idea a few years ago and we've been doing it ever since, but I think this is the first year we've used a candle... other years we've used a flashlight.  I like doing it with a candle!!!)

Brooke read first!

...then Katelyn...

...then Joshua!

Opening their Christmas Eve presents!

There's always some fun...

...especially when they get...

 ...wait for it...

...onsie jammies!!!  (McKenzie opted for the traditional PJ bottoms.)

These girls are a hoot!

A Yeti and a Reindeer!

What silly girls!  The Sisters stayed for all of these antics and seemed to enjoy our craziness!!  When I dropped them off, they said that they really enjoyed the evening and that they felt like they were in their own homes.  I guess it was a success!  I'm so glad they felt comfortable and enjoyed the evening with us!  We really enjoyed having them and the spirit they brought into our home-- both laughter and a feeling of deep gratitude for the gospel, our Savior Jesus Christ and all that we've been given!