Christmas Eve 2018

Christmas Eve! Mom's table decor is always so stunning, it always sets the mood for a festive meal and a fun evening.

Such cute Christmas themed appetizers

The whole family!

For dessert, Dad made the special rice pudding aunt Diane used to make for our annual Christmas Eve at Granna and Papa's. It is the perfect combination of creamy, sweet and tart. And makes a beautiful presentation.

After dinner and dessert it was time for games! We started with our traditional game of Christmas Bingo! This is the perfect game for our family, because all ages can play and there is not limit to the amount of people that can play. The kids love the candy game markers and we all end up with a little prize from Mom and Dad.

After Bingo, we tried out another Christmas Tree numbers game, it was a little more confusing, but still fun and John was our winner!

After games, it was time for the annual Christmas concert. All the grandkids are very musical and extremely talented. They each prepare one to two pieces to perform for the family!

The youngest always goes first, V was very excited to be able to participate this year.

Sam has sung an adorable song with actions the past two years and it is so cute and sweet. I am so impressed that he always knows all the words.

After the concert, we sang a few carols.

The Burton boys created "The Man Challenge" a few years ago which entails running in the snow in their bare feet. They love to do it every Christmas Eve. All the kids have such a good time seeing how far they can make it before turning around and running back inside.

V modified the challenge a bit by running out in a pair of high platform flip flops from the dress up closet.

Then it was time for Grandpa's treasure hunt, this tradition comes from Mom's Dad. There is one gift for each child and they all get hidden. Mom then gives each of the kids a piece of wrapping paper that their gift is wrapped in, each present is wrapped in a different paper. Then the treasure hunt begins!

John was in charge of hiding the presents this year, and he did such a good job.

Grandpa Christensen valued education and fostered every opportunity to learn. So, all the gifts in Grandpa's Treasure Hunt are books or puzzles or other tools for learning.

I had bought this submarine music box during our summer trip to Jackson Hole this year. I knew I wouldn't ever be able to put it together by myself, so I thought it would be a perfect time to have the Burton boys help me put it together. While all of them helped throughout the process, Ben and Dad were the troopers that stuck with it until it was finished, it took quite a few days. They would always work on it in between the holiday festivities.

To help the kids settle down and get ready for bed, we always end the night with a story. Mike and Jenny always kindly scan in  the pictures from the selected story so all the kids can easily see the pictures while Karin reads.