Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was an absolute blast this year. I was worried I would be homesick, but that didn't set in until Christmas afternoon. We were invited to a party at my friend Anna's house. A bunch of our friends that were staying in town were there too. The theme for the evening was "Pasta Night" and the food was fantastic. I made 2 batches of my meatballs and 3 batches of Sarah's marinara sauce, and then spaghetti noodles to go with it. Anna made her awesome tomato cream sausage and basil rigatoni, and Ashli made a creamy chicken and bowtie pasta dish, along with some parmesan and herb rolls. Then Anna also made 2 different green salads to go with. Paola brought a traditional Brazilian ham dish (not pasta...but delish!) and was in charge of drinks. She went all out and brought bottled Mexican coke, and tons of different varieties of sparkling ciders. Meretta brought a yummy spinach and parmesan dip with crackers. Anna also dedicated her entire kitchen table to desserts. Everything was red and green and white and so festive! I wish I had taken pictures. Loni brought a couple of different types of cupcakes to contribute to the dessert table.

The adults all sat around Anna's huge dining room table and the kids were just off to the side. Anna had borrowed Miss Annie's preschool table and chairs and it was perfect for the night. After a lot of eating and visiting the kids put on the nativity play. Avery was Mary. As you can tell from the pictures, she was pretty wired that evening. James was a shepherd. He looked pretty cute in his costume, but as you can imagine the headpiece didn't stay on very long. Anna's husband, Clarke, read the account of Jesus' birth from the scriptures as the kids acted everything out. Then we sang a few carols.

Then it was time for dessert. I think most of the adults were too full to eat much, but the kids loved all of the bowls of candy Anna had set out and the cellophane bags they got to fill with candy before heading home.

It was pouring rain as we left the party and rained for most of the night. We came home and the kids opened their new Christmas jammies before going to bed so Santa could come.