That evening, we went out to Subway for our annual Subway sandwich dinner. This started waaaaay back when I was a kid. I think it originally started because it was soooo stressful for mom tying up all the loose ends on Christmas Eve to make the awesome Christmases we had. So one year, instead of making dinner, Dad offered to take us to Subway. It worked out so well that we have been doing it ever since. Anyways, we went to the same Subway that we went to last year and THEY REMEMBERED US!!! It was actually the same two ladies working there as last year. LOL I thought they looked familiar. Last year, we overwhelmed them with our group of 10 and explained our tradition. My mom had been around a lot of perfume that day (she is VERY allergic and it can cause seizures) and on our way out she told them "I love you!" They looked at us and we looked at them and laughter erupted. This year, the lady asked my mom if she was going to say good-bye the way she did last year....she said "you only tell us you love us once a year after all" and laughed. And so....we ordered our food and on our way out, mom shouted "I love you!" to the Subway ladies. Aaaahhh a new tradition is born! We took our food home (so they wouldn't have to clean up after us on Christmas Eve 30 minutes before close) and feasted.After dinner, we went out and looked at Christmas lights. They were really beautiful and we had a great time. I always forget how much this gets me into the Christmas spirit until we do it. This year the most notable was probably ginormous Santa. I have NEVER seen a Santa that big! I wanted to go back and get my camera to take a picture of it, but I didn't think I would be able to find it again since we were winding in and out of neighborhoods. He didn't look inflatable...I don't know what he was made out of, but he was literally 2 stories tall in front of this house. I think that Dallin would have maybe reached his knee (and he is 43 inches tall). I think it really would put the fear into kids if they hadn't been good that year and saw GIANT Santa coming toward their house!
On the way home from viewing neighborhood lights, we assigned parts for the annual reading/acting out of the nativity. This year, Dallin was Joseph.
Kate was Mary. Christopher reprised his role as the donkey (hee hee). 
I was a shepherd with my flock of Little People Animals. Michael and the Elders were the 3 wise men. My mom was the angel, and my dad was the narrator. We then scrambled to find costumes in 10 minutes or less. It is always fun to see what everyone comes up with. The creativity is part of the fun. Unfortunately, my camera died and I only got a few pictures of this, but you can see it is pretty cute.Finally, we helped the kids wrap their gifts and we sat around the fire in the living room while the kids danced and spun around to Christmas music playing on the stereo.
It made me smile to see them so happy. I loved that their little eyes were sparkling and alive with the magic and spirit of Christmas, and I could feel it myself. I remember dancing and spinning in the living room so full of joy I could burst, and it brought those feelings back watching my sweet children on Christmas Eve.We went home, put out magic reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter) on the front lawn, got the kids ready for bed, and put out cookies for Santa. Each kiddo picked one cookie they made and put it on Santa's plate. Kate then got up to the table and took a bite out of one when no one was watching. It was about this time that Christopher said (not knowing she had done this) "Don't eat Santa's cookies or he will be mad!". Kate had this horrible look on her face of shock and horror. She completely froze. At first I couldn't figure out why (I hadn't seen her do it either), but I looked down at the table in front of her and noticed the cookie with the bite out of it just as her expression melted from horror into a completely heartbroken expression. She teared up and began to just sob with her head in her hands. It really broke my heart! She was so upset. She was sobbing so hard I had to repeat myself several times for her to calm down enough to talk and eventually stop crying. I told her it was ok since she didn't know and helped her pick a new cookie. I assured her Santa wouldn't be mad at her and he would like the new cookie just as much. I then placed her gently back on her chair and told her to go ahead and finish the cookie she started (after all it was Christmas Eve). What a sweet little girl! I sure love my tender hearted sweetpea. Christopher read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' to the kids and they were quickly tucked and asleep in a matter of minutes (we had intentionally deprived them of naps today...heehee). Then it was just Christopher and I, enjoying Christmas Eve stillness and waiting for Santa! It was a truly wonderful Christmas Eve.
1 comment:
Subway sounds like a fun tradition and especially the "I love you" part.
Merry Christmas! We love your family and love to hear about you.
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