Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we all got dressed in our Christmas outfits and headed off to Church for the 9:30am service. We met my parents and niece there and enjoyed a very nice service. My poor sister and Brother-In-Law both had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so between my parents and Brandon and I we were in charge of Abi. No complaints here, we love having her. After church we came home and put all the kiddos down for their naps. We turned on the Broncos game and got to cooking and getting things ready for the Christmas Eve dinner that we were hosting. Unfortunately the Broncos totally choked and had a big loss but thanks to a nice dinner and company it kept my hubby distracted. Dinner was at 4:30pm so my sister had enough time to stop by eat, open a few gifts and love on her baby girl before heading into work for the night. We also invited my Sisters In-Laws (Lance, Jan & Heather) over to join us for Christmas Eve dinner. It was so fun and the food was amazing. We had Pork Tenderloin Medallions with a Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, Sweet Potato Casserole, Green Beans with Lemon & Pine Nuts, Harvest Baked Acorn Squash and Dinner Rolls. Wow, it was all so so so delicious! After dinner we let the kids open up the gifts their friends gave them and the ones from Jan, Lance & Heather. It was such a fun evening spent with great company. Once everyone parted to go to work and to go home, we put all the kids to bed. My parents and Abi stayed the night so that everyone was already in one place for Christmas Morning. After the kids went to bed, my mom and I were busy putting together Breakfast for Christmas morning and my dad and Brandon watched a movie. The entire day was so much fun! Enjoy the pictures, there are a lot!

We woke up to find Crowley taking a bubble bath in a bowl of mini marshmallows on our computer desk shelf. Silly Elf, you are going to be very missed. When I explained to Owen this was the last time he would see Crowley until next year he lost it. He wept and wept and wept. It was so sad to watch but I assured him over and over that Crowley would be back next year. Bye Crowley we had so much fun with you this past month!

All ready for Church!

The closet thing we got to a family picture this Christmas. I completely forgot to get a picture with all 4 of us between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Oops, got distracted with all the kiddos, food and gifts. O well, next year!

Waiting for all the guests to arrive for dinner with my two favorite little girls!

The best Dad/Grandpa in the whole world busy cooking up his amazing Pork Tenderloin Medallions.

The table was all set ready to be filled with Family & Friends.

Everyone who knows me, knows my table would not be complete without a Pinterest Project. Haha. Here are my Candy Cane Place Cards I made. Thanks Pinterest for the adorable idea!

My famous Holiday Cranberry Cake with an Almond Orange Glaze. Yummy!

Pork Tenderloin with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce.

Green Beans with Lemon & Pine Nuts and Sweet Potato Casserole

And no Christmas Dinner in our house is complete without my Harvest Baked Acorn Squash. I have made these for the past 5 years now. They are amazing. You stuff them with Chopped Apples, Celery, Pineapples mixed with Butter, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon and Allspice. So delicious!

Everyone Enjoying Dinner

Left: Pampo & Owen. Right: Sweet Heather (my sister’s Sister-In-Law).

My Mom and I have the most AMAZING husbands ever! They cleaned up all the dishes after dinner. LOVE them so so so much!

Opening gifts. These are just the ones we opened Christmas Eve night. Look how many there are. Ridiculous.

Heather LOVES jewelry. Here she is showing off her new bracelets.

These two LOVED rocking in Abi’s new rocking chair.

And before the kids went to sleep they each wrote a little note to Santa and left him some of the delicious sugar cookies we made just for Old Saint Nick.

Owen picked out his three favorite cookies to leave for Santa. One for each child. And we could not forget about those reindeer, they have the hardest job flying around to all those houses it tough work.

Pictures from Christmas Day Coming Soon!