Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas with Scott's family. His parents and sister + husband already live here, so the remaining two siblings & their families joined us. It's always fun to have everyone here.
I don't know about you, but we were still trying to finish things even during that afternoon. I still didn't have much time to do all the handmade things I wanted to, but was able to give Scott what I started (It's in AcadeMe if you are interested). By 4pm we were ready for Christmas Eve dinner at their home. Always yummy and fun to visit while the kids all ran around with cousins.
We did a few traditions that get better every year. After dinner we all gather in the living room and read the Nativity story in Luke. As we do so, the kids take turns placing different characters from the nativity on the table. This year Mimi had a kid-proof version which proved to be much better. They quietly played with it as we read and then we pulled out a few other Christmas stories. Trevor, the oldest cousin played some carols on the piano as we sang and then.... time for opening pajamas! Scott's family has always had a tradition to do this- open pj's on C Eve and then on Christmas morning, they (now we) all come down the stairs wearing our pj's before heading toward the tree. This year Scott and I opted out on having pj's of our own since we accumulated so many from the past years. Turns out we were the only adults to do so and naturally, it was noticed. The jokes ensued because Scott 'confessed' that he doesn't wear anything to bed. At all. Next thing we know, Elliet is ripping off her clothes and shouted, "Who wants to see me naked?" as she started to get on her pj's. The timing was so perfect and had us all laughing so hard. Good times....
After getting the kids in their pj's, we had dessert and then headed home to get ready for Santa. This is getting better every year with the kids getting older to understand. We put out the reindeer food on the driveway, put out cookies and milk and tucked them into bed. Once Scott and I got things set up we watched a little "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and turned in. Fun fun. I seriously considered making some noise on the roof. But think I need to wait a year or so so they aren't scarred from fear. Does anyone else do that? If so, tell me how it goes over! Sounds fun to me....