Christmas Eve

We started out our Christmas Eve night with our church's Candlight Service.  We go every year and one of my favorite Christmas moments is singing "Silent Night" and looking at the glow of everyone's candles in the dark.  Then, Parker & I exchanged gifts as we've always done on Christmas Eve.  I got a gift card to Ann Taylor Loft (favorite store!) and he got jeans, Calcutta sunglasses, and a new framed photo of us for his new office.  I know, I'm such a good gift giver - not.  It's what he asked for though!  The good part comes next....

One of the traditions that Parker & I started over the last few years is our "Christmas Light Tour."  It started one year when we made a bet on the DH Conley (his high school) vs. South Central (my high school) football game.  If SCHS won the game, he had to plan a date all by himself.  If DHC won, then I had to wash and clean out his truck - then a K5 Chevy Blazer.  Luckily, SCHS won (woot woot) and Parker cooked dinner, we ate by candle light, and we went on our first ever "Christmas Light Tour."  Sometimes we go to a house in Vanceboro, a nearby town, where a family has a whole field of lights and music.  You can park your car and get out and walk around, it's pretty neat.  We had planned to go with Candice & Jacob, but since I had to work and make aprons/wrap presents/cross stitch Grandma's stocking, we had to take a rain check.  Next year though!

We did get to see this awesome house that had lights turning on and off to the music.  It was pretty sweet...

We also took our annual trips down Toy Soldier Lane, Christmas Tree Street, and Candy Cane Lane.  When I was little, each of the families that lived on these streets had a painted wood cut out of a toy soldier/Christmas tree/candy cane, so when you turned down the road, it lit up with soldier after soldier, or tree after tree, you get the point.  In recent years, Toy Soldier Lane has really stunk it up... the soldiers are scattered here and there, but with no structure.  But as always, Christmas Tree Street and Candy Cane Lane were on point... See?

Not the best pictures, I know... but you get the point.  When I was little, I use to think of what my street could do and I had these big ideas.  I thought my dad could cut all the things out and paint them, and our neighbors would put them up and all... well, so much for that.  I mean how awesome would Nutcracker Street be?  Or Santa Claus Lane?  Or Reindeer Road???  Probably a bit too involved, huh?  We should've thought up Candy Cane Lane first... that would have been much easier.

I digress.  Here is the end of our "Christmas Light Tour."  It's my sweet home!  Didn't my mom do a good job??  That spotlight made cool shadows on our windows that freaked us out when someone came to the door (it made people look like enormous scary monsters), but it was definitely worth it.

So that was our Christmas Eve!  I hope you enjoyed hearing reading about it.