What We Did on Christmas Eve

Yes, I know. I'm still way behind. But I've been enjoying my vacation from kids' and Andy's school schedules way too much to do a lot of blogging! All right, Christmas Eve...

So when I married Andy I was informed that every year for Christmas Eve the Thuernagle's had Oyster stew and Beef Noodle Soup. Um....yuck. That just sounded so NOT appetizing at all. My family had always gone to my great grandmother's Christmas Eve party. Soup did not sound party-like to me. (typing this out just makes me giggle) But, keeping an open mind, I asked Andy what the tradition was all about, and he told me that his grandma Thuernagle liked Oyster stew...and that his dad always made homemade noodles for the soup, and that they started making both types of soup because most people didn't like the oyster stew.

Well, year after year as Christmas Eve gets close and I'm buying groceries for all of the yummy pies, dips, salads, etc. that I like to make for Christmas dinner...I also buy groceries for Beef Noodle Soup. After 10 years of it...it still sounds just blah and yucky to me...but Andy and I have done a few things to the tradition...tweaked it a little bit to make it more meaningful and we've also perfected our own soup recipe and although the thought of soup doesn't get my tummy rumbling beforehand, it always tastes so good when we sit down to enjoy it!

This year, Matthew was Daddy's big helper with the noodles...

He was there from beginning to end...making sure Daddy was doing it right.

And he was also doing quality control...yep Dad...the flour's good.

And here are the other three...coming out to help hang the noodles to dry.

What did we do to tweak this tradition?

We decided to make our Christmas Eve soup dinner a "Dinner At The Inn." We thought that if you were to have gone to an Inn in Bethlehem all those many years ago, that you might have been able to buy some sort of soup and bread. So, we serve soup and homemade bread with honey and butter, and we drink milk and have slices of cheese out as well. We serve it out on all of our regular dishes, not the china or anything fancy, because hey...would an Inn in Bethlehem have china? Nope. In a few years, I'd like to have a set of wooden bowls to serve it in...but that will come later. And we make the whole Inn atmosphere complete by dressing up in our nativity costumes. It really makes it a fun night.

I don't know what they're looking at...probably something silly that either Brooklynn or Matthew is doing.Matthew being the silly boy that he is.

After dinner, we have our nativity play. We used to just read it straight out of the scriptures, but a few years ago I decided to make it more of a play so that it was more interactive for the kids. So, I took the script straight from the scriptures and split it into parts, added a narrator and stage directions...and then added hymns and primary Christmas songs into it at appropriate places. At the end, the Narrator has a chance to talk about why we celebrate Christmas and then to bear his/her testimony of the birth of our Savior and of His divine mission here on the earth. Then we open it up to anyone else who would like to share their testimonies of Jesus Christ. We end by singing Silent Night and having family prayer. It brings such a wonderful spirit into the home, and a nice calm and peaceful atmosphere. This year Taylor asked to be the narrator, and it was sweet to listen to his pure testimony of Jesus Christ.

Taylor as the Narrator.

Brooklynn wanted to be Mary again this year. Her costume kept changing throughout the night...Here she is...ready to deliver...but where is Joseph?

Well, little Joseph was being silly again. In fact, one of the shepherds (Mommy) had to go find him and help him find his way to the manger. When we finally got him to go with Mary to Bethlehem, he actually crawled into the manger first and didn't want to get out. Can you tell by the changing of clothes that some time has elapsed here? After Joseph saw that we were putting a baby to bed in the manger, he had to go to his room...take off the big t-shirt he had on over his pajamas, and then come back out with his own pillow and blanket. It was hilarious.Here is our sweet Rachel, playing the part of the Angel.

Andy and I played the parts of the shepherds and the 3 wise men, and Joseph control, and assistant narrators, and song leaders, etc.

Andy and I have been very careful about traditions in our home. Many habitual, routine, and time-consuming activities can become traditions...but they hold little or no meaning and then can actually bring contention and vice and stress into a family. We've tried very hard to make sure that the traditions we spend precious family time on bring our family closer together, and provide learning and growing opportunities for all involved. I'm glad that this tradition has evolved into what it is. It's been very enriching for our little family, and I think that it has helped our children to really understand and love the true Christmas Story.