Friday Favorites 12/24: Christmas Eve

Yes, I know.  It's Saturday night, and Christmas night, not Christmas Eve, but it's still Friday Favorites because it's about Christmas Eve and is one of my favorite days/nights of the entire year. It is my favorite holiday, hands down.  And there are 3 specific reasons why.  And they have nothing to do with the amount of presents I receive or the money that was spent, but instead the time with family, just being a family.

So what are my Friday favorites on my most favorite holiday of the year?  Read on to find out.

(Not necessarily in this order...)

Family

 Yes, this is X, sitting in a box that another gift came in, playing with his MagnaDoodle. 

I love my family.  We don't get nearly enough time together throughout the year, in my opinion.  That's probably why I love Christmas Eve so much.  We all sit down together to enjoy time with one another.  We watch movies and tv during the day, we cook good food and bake yummies, we sit and talk and have real conversations.  And when we sit down to celebrate the day, the electronics and television and computers are left behind.  We move to the living room and open gifts and eat good food and enjoy the company of one another.  And we have a really good time doing it.  We're always laughing and smiling. It's just plain pleasant.

I wish I had better pictures of the night.  I forgot to take one of our family sitting together, so you'll have to accept the few above.  X really enjoyed the night and the time with his aunt, uncle, PaPa and NaMa. :)

Food

Like I said above, we cook and bake and eat good food.  For several years we've made a whole pile of hor d'oeuvres and sweets and serving that instead of a traditional meal.  It's yummy.  There are little smokies, summer sausage, cheese and crackers, sometimes artichoke or spinach dip, swedish meatballs, stuffed crescent rolls, stuffed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, keishes, cupcakes, chocolate covered pretzels, M&Ms, wine, apple cider... I could go on.  But I think you get the idea.  Each year the list changes a little.  We may choose to stray from this next year and do a traditional meal.  But that's okay because part of what makes the food so good is the company we are keeping.  Like a said before, good food and conversation.  It goes a long way.

Faith

And finally, faith.  Christmas Eve is a time to remember that "Jesus is the reason for the season."  I wish I could show you a picture of the Candlelight service at church with the lights turned down and the candles all lifted around the church while the congregation sings Silent Night.  There's a moment of peace that truly brings it all into perspective.  I may not be outspoken about my faith, but Christmas has always been special for me and fills me with joy.  I wish I could say it more eloquently, but this will have to do.  

So these are 3 reasons that Christmas Eve is so special and such a favorite of mine.  How perfect that it landed on an actual Friday this year?

Merry Christmas to all you, readers!