Christmas Eve Traditions

Christmas Eve is my side of the family's traditional German Christmas celebration. This year Lexie and Gavin have been helping my parents do a special Secret Santa project. They have really enjoyed being a part of that and it has created some special memories. They also like being able to enjoy the efforts of their labors, like the chocolaty goodness all over Lexie!
The traditional German Christmas Tree is set up and decorated on Christmas Eve. While my mom and I like to have decorations in place before Christmas Eve, we still pull out the ornaments and decorate the big tree that night. The kids love to decorate the tree, and they had lots of fun seeing all of Grandma's cute ornaments. Where is Gavin, you ask? He liked to hang a few ornaments, but he kept sneaking away...
...and we would find him quietly over by the pistachio stash, cracking away and devouring as many of the sumptuous little nuts as he could. And the orange stuff all over his mouth and hands? He couldn't stay out of the BBQ potato chips, either. So Gavin had a lovely feast of appetizers for his Christmas Eve dinner, and had no room left for dinner!
Another BIG tradition in my family is a fabulous gourmet spread. We had a delicious California salad, then a main course of homemade rolls from my Granny, Prime Rib, roasted potatoes, green beans with toasted almonds...and I'm sure I am forgetting something, because there was lots of mouth-watering delights. My grandparents were all invited and we had a lovely visit with them. (Pictured from left, clockwise: my dad, my mom's mom, my dad's dad, my dad's mom, my mom, Danny, Nicholas, me, Lexie, Gavin, my brother Nelson.)
After dinner, Lexie had prepared a special program she had written herself. She is so thoughtful and really so grown up. She used her little stick puppets and acted out the story of the Savior's birth in her own words. She did a great job. After that, my dad read the scriptural account of the Savior's birth from Luke 2, as his dad did on Christmas Eve every year when I was little. It's amazing how I now have a little girl to experience her own childhood Christmases and learn to appreciate our family traditions.
And what comes last? Each child opens one present for Christmas Eve. I have put our own spin on that one, and our family gets new pajamas to wear for Christmas morning. The kids were so excited that Santa was on his way! So they jumped in bed, covered up their heads... It was great to spend the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's.