Christmas Eve

This year we had a casual get-together with friends on Christmas Eve and shared some of our family traditions.  We kept the food simple, just a potluck of goodies.  Now that we have a Chick-fil-a in Illinois and nearby, Dave and I were happy to reinstate the Smith family Christmas Eve tradition of the Chicka -fil-a nugget party tray.  We also were treated to some yummy soup, salsas and cookies made by our friends. 

After dinner, we gathered down stairs for a game of Bingo, complete with white elephant prizes for the winners.  Everyone was a winner.  Of course, considering some of the gifts I'm not sure you could really call the recipients "winners."



This little guy kept busy during Bingo eating paper. 
He was so cute that instead of stopping him, I took pictures!

After a few rounds of Bingo and paper-eating ;) we gathered around to watch a short video called "Holy Night" which depicts the Savior's birth and his sacrifice for mankind.

On the way out the door, we all went outside in the snow to watch our friend shoot off Diet Coke with Mentos, a prize he won in Bingo.  Dave and I gave this prize last year at our family Bingo game and are thinking this just might become another Christmas Eve tradition.

Once we got home, the girl's opened their Christmas Eve PJs, set out some cookies for Santa (the girls decorated cookies earlier in the day), then we all sat down to read from the book of Luke in the scriptures so we could go to bed with the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts.