A Quiet Christmas

We celebrated Jesus' birth quietly--starting (not counting Advent and related activities) the evening of the 23rd by visiting the live Nativity that is near our house. (Friendship Christian Church; this was their 44th annual live nativity!) Grandma and Grandpa H joined our household that day to stay for the week.

We enjoyed the new family-friendly Christmas Eve service at our church. All of the children gathered at the front of the fellowship hall and listened to the Christmas story. Then the pastor came and sat in front of the kids while they asked questions about the birth of Jesus. (Did the Magi come to the stable and so forth.) Then we all sang a bunch of Christmas carols. Bradford adores Christmas music, so this was his favorite part. Then we all went into the sanctuary and joined the traditional service for the candlelight and "Silent Night." The boys got to hold their own candles this year, while I opted out of a candle since Cora would have loved it a bit too much.

Christmas morning we opened gifts with Grandma and Grandpa H.


For lunch we had our traditional Christmas pizza, but were too full for the ice cream that normally accompanies it. (Scott made that today. He and Bradford were the only partakers.)
The boys spent the remainder of the day playing with their new toys and reading their new books. Aside from books, which are always a winner here, the favorite gift seems to be the felt pizza and cheeseburger I made (and finished about midnight Christmas morning.)