Twas the Night Before Christmas

and it was still very warm outside!  The kids helped me clean up the backyard while their daddy worked on other last minute things.

 

Push me!  Can you do the big kahuna again?  Push me, Mom!

A few hours later we were showered and all dressed up for my favorite night of the year.  We went to our church for the 4pm service.  We love Lake Pointe Church!

We met Boom, Gigi and Madison there, and since it was a special night, the big kids joined us for the service.  We used to have to put an adult between each kid in order to ensure they behaved--my how things have changed!  They were all perfect during the service and we got to enjoy the message.  Bonus--they had childcare up to age 2, so we put Cami in there.  
Favorite moment:  singing Silent Night with our candles lit and held up high. 

 

After church,  the boys dropped us off at home and went to pick up dinner from Carrabbas. 
 The girls decided to have a dance party with Santa:)

"Aunt Glenda and Cousin Leslie are almost here!!  We can hardly wait to see them!"



A few moments later when the girls just couldn't wait any longer, they opened our front door and saw the car pulling up to our house.  They're here!

Aunt Glenda and her "little" brother.

We all said hello and welcomed them into our home. 
It's so fun to have family come visit from out of town.

 

All of us gathered around our dining table and had a very nice meal together.  We even found time to share what we were most thankful for this year and to tell everyone what we most wanted for Christmas.  There were a few curve balls!  After dinner, we got to eat the birthday cake we had made for Jesus.  It was a Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake and although it tasted good, the decorating was a total fail.  I tried to write "Happy Birthday Jesus" on it before it was completely cool. 
Oh well! 

Since it was Johnny's last night with us, he chose a spot where he'd be front and center. 
He didn't want to miss a thing.

We all loved watching the show put on by the girls.  First up, Maddie and Cami.  Love her smile.  She loves her "Ma Ma."

Rosie and Sofia Grace sang a few duos, which really means that Madison sang and Lila danced.

Uncle Jared gave Madison a red rose for her fantastic performance...

and then another dance party broke out.  Get it girls!

It was at least 8:30 by this point and time to start thinking about getting into our jammies.

 

Only 1 more day until Christmas!

We said goodbye to our family and then ran to get our Magic Reindeer Food.  It's so important to keep those reindeer energized for their long night.

Bubba helped his baby sister open her food, which she promptly dumped all out in one spot.

Big sister ran around the entire yard, making sure it was everywhere...

when they were satisfied with the front yard, we went back inside and got out milk and cookies for Santa.  Daddy read the kids Twas the Night Before Christmas and then asked Lila to go get her bible.  He read them the story of the night Baby Jesus was born, then we tucked them in bed.  By about 9:45 or 10 all was quiet.  We hopped in bed ourselves and all went to sleep, hoping that Santa Claus would make a stop at our house during the night.  Spoiler alert--he did! 
Stay tuned to see what he brought.