Christmas Eve

I'm so grateful for traditions!  As the kids get older, they get fairly adamant about the things we do for the holidays.  This year, I thought maybe we should go to Knott's Berry Farm on Christmas Eve, but I was quickly out-voted so that we could keep up our traditions.  Instead of roller coasters, we had lots of cousin bonding time and plenty of yummy food to eat!  

In the early afternoon the "Other Chase's" arrived and we spent a few hours running last minute errands and eating lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant.  Once we got home, there was just enough time to finish preparations for our traditional ham dinner.  As usual, Dee was with us to celebrate.

After dinner, we headed to a neighborhood nearby that puts on an awesome synchronized light show.  It was so packed with cars, that we parked close by and walked through the display.  We are thankful for the work that went in to the show!

As we were walking through the light display, we almost had an accident.  Cali got spooked by a couple of barking dogs, pulled out of her collar, and ran into the street right in front of some cars.  Kelly screamed and ran out after her.  They both just missed getting hit!  Next year we'll have to be more careful.

Once we got  back to our house, we had a Christmas Eve devotional led by Rick and then it was time for presents!  Sue and Jerry were able to share the evening with us via FaceTime.

The cousins in their new pajamas (thank you Grandma Sharrid for making the kids their annual pjs).

The kids had so much fun buying presents for each other!  Parker picked out this Zelda logo t-shirt for Elizabeth - it was a major hit! 

Rick had some special clown targets made for Bobby (he has a serious clown phobia).

My favorite time of Christmas Eve is always after all the kids are in bed, the present and stocking are under the tree, and Christmas music is playing softly in the house.  It's the time when I feel the spirit of Christmas the most.  What a blessing the birth of our Savior was to the world!