Christmas Eve

Jill and the kids came early to our house. The Seahawks were playing the Dallas Cowboys in a game that would eliminate one team from the playoffs.

After making the stuffing for the turkey for the Christmas Day dinner, I was happy to sit with them for a while and enjoy the game, and for a change, it was enjoyable! A 21-12 victory.

Of course everyone was on their devices during the game. It's a requirement. There are lots of time outs and commercials, after all, and the kids were trying out new technology from their Colorado grandparents. 

It was before the game was over that it began to snow.

After the game, as it got dark, I got busy in the kitchen, making Swedish meatballs. The kids, totally unprepared for snow, raided our coat closet for coats and hats and gloves, and went outside to make some snowballs. 

 Jill followed them out long enough to get a few photos, but she said it was hard to get them to stand still long enough for a pose. 

I had to laugh when I saw the hat Isaac was wearing, an old straw hat of mine. There must have been some magic in that old straw hat they found. 

Isaac made a mini-snowman on the patio picnic table for me to enjoy. 

We had a lovely, candle lit dinner in the dining room, with outside lights highlighting the snow covering the trees outside.

After dinner, Irene lit the nativity pyramid, and we all gathered to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas. 

As the snow continued to fall and accumulate, worry about getting back home began to creep in. Jake had already decided to stay at Jill's house rather than going back into the city. But we got them out of the driveway and up the hill and on their way.

Tom and I finished cleaning up and putting away. We decided not to make a gift delivery run to Jill's that night but wait until morning, hoping, of course, that we would make it with the load of gifts and the turkey and the stuffing and the cookies. (We did)

After settling in to watch some TV and catch up on blogs and Facebook, I read a post from one of our blogger friends that stated he always went outside on Christmas Eve to soak up the peace.

I decided about 11:00 to do the same. 

 I walked around the back yard, where the only prominent sound was of my boots crunching in the snow. 

I walked out the driveway to the street where I met a man walking and exchanged a few greetings.  As I looked back through the trees to the house, it all just looked magical. 

 And then, filled with Christmas Magic, I returned to Tom inside, where midnight soon brought us to Christmas day, and time to try to sleep.

Of course the visions of sugar plums and lists and other Christmas emotions kept me awake, but it is, after all, a very special night.