One of the great things about my birthday being on Christmas Eve is that my chances of spending my birthday with my parents and siblings is much higher. This year, it was fun to be home from some crepes with strawberries and whipped cream, made by my parents, and a super-fun dollar store birthday party. This year, before beginning the festivities, my mom had the final treasure hunt for the kids. The “treasure” at the end was the pinata. They took turns from youngest to oldest, and I think we went through the order about three times before Landon gave it a good enough hit to knock it down.
After the pinata, the party started. I got some great presents – new running shoes, new church shoes, a new coat, a framed Portland temple picture (taken by Becky!), an Eiffel Tower decoration – but the present I was most excited about was Shane’s. He got me a digital SLR camera! I knew a few weeks before that he had decided to get me that because he was having a hard time buying such an expensive item without clearing it by me. I approved the expense, but didn’t know which one he ended up getting. I think Stacey, Shane, and Becky were just as excited for me to open the gift so they could check it out too. Stacey asked me every day if it was my birthday yet. :) Stacey made me a cool camera strap to go with my camera too. I am excited to try it out and learn better how to use it.
After opening gifts, we had my dollar store birthday party. I am not exactly sure when the dollar store birthday parties started – about the time the Dollar Store opened in Ashland when I was in college. The tradition is that my mom now gathers several dollar store games or activities, and we each take turns opening one and deciding on a competition for that game. The winner of the competition then gets a dollar store prize. Some of the competitions this year were a miniature basketball hoop, some blow darts, crazy 8’s, and a roll-the-dice-move-the-pegs type game.
My new running shoes were a hit with Ethan – he tried them on and wore them around for awhile.
A cute shot of Kallie (by Stacey), and one of Ryan on my new camera (not sure who took it)
After a little afternoon resting time, the Christmas Eve festivities began. We had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner of ham, potatoes, rolls, jello, and some delicious razzleberry pie for my birthday treat. After dinner, we did our traditional chime playings, and then my mom had made some nativity costumes for the kids, so they each dressed up to act out the nativity. Dad from the Bible, and we paused at specific points to sing some Christmas songs that went with the verses we had just read, with Becky accompanying on the piano. She got a little impatient with us less-musically-inclined people a few times since we were not the most amazing singers and kept starting to sing while she was still playing her intro. She eventually just gave up on us and skipped the intros.
The festive dinner table, and playing the chimes (B&W by Stacey)
The cute Mary and Joseph (by Stacey)
Landon, James, and Ethan were wisemen (Ethan was not at all happy about wearing his costume, so he isn’t in the picture), Kallie and Davis were Mary and Joseph, and Bennett was a shepherd.
All the actors together, and the kids checking out the Santa tracker before getting ready for bed.
After acting out the nativity, we got the kids ready for bed and dad hid our books in the living room to find and open. We did two rounds this year – one for the kids and one for the adults. As always, dad stumped even most of us adults in finding our books hidden in the little living room. We then headed to bed after a great Christmas Eve. Thanks for a great birthday and Christmas Eve everyone!
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