Christmas Eve

Elisha's Christmas picture taken by our good friend Tracey Parron!

This was Elisha’s first Christmas and I wanted it to be special.  I know that he is too young to fully grasp it but it is a very special time of year and I was blessed to share it with him.  We spent the majority of the day wrapping presents for family and friends.  Once we had completed the task of wrapping it was rather late.  We decided to go to Bob Evans to enjoy breakfast for dinner.  This is my favorite dinner and I was excited!  We left the house with just enough time for dinner and our drive to church.  As we pulled up to the restaurant we were informed that they had just closed.  I was devastated and Andrew quickly tried to come up with other options but everything he had suggested was closed.  The fact that all of the places we tried were closed by 6:30 which was surprising to me since Andrew’s restaurant was open till 8.  Maybe we should have gone there.  After driving around Bel Air looking for a place that would serve us a special Christmas Eve meal we decided to drive to Church in Columbia and try to find something in White Marsh on the way.  By the time we got there we only have 15 minutes to eat and with fast food as the only option in that time frame we ended up at McDonalds.  I was less than thrilled.

We made it to our home church, Crosswalk in Columbia, MD with a few minutes to spare.  We were greeted with the traditional candles to be used at the end of the service and jingle bells for the kids.  Pastor George began the service by inviting the kids to jingle the bells throughout the service as an act of worship in this family friendly environment.  During every song and at various other times you could hear the bells which put smiles on our faces.  Every carol and hymn we sung was fresh and new to the ear with the arrangements the band had prepared.  Pastor George and Donna Lippitt are amazing musicians and we were blessed with their gift.  About three quarters into the service Pastor left while we were singing.  He came back in dressed like a shepherd who had just seen an angel and wanted to tell the good news to the children in the service.  At the end he gave each child a glow stick to be used at the end of the service when the adults would be holding their candles.  We thought this was a great idea and that every church should do the same.  Andrew’s favorite part of the Christmas Eve service is singing Silent Night by candle light and tonight we were blessed to sing it by candle and glow stick light.  After the service we hung out for a bit with a few folks from our Columbia church family.  Our time there helped us refocus our attention on Christ, the reason we celebrate.

When we got home we opened one gift from under the tree, our Christmas pajamas!  In college my roommate told me about her family’s tradition of getting special Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve.  I loved this idea and wanted to do it when I had a family of my own.   When I suggested it Andrew he was game so after four Target trips we found the perfect pajamas for our family.  Elisha was Santa and we were his elves.

Here we go!

Mommy this bow is fun! It is stretchy!

Opening his PJ's

Mommy is an Elf

Daddy is an Elf

Elisha is Santa