Christmas Eve

For my entire life my favorite tradition for any holiday has been the nativity re-enactment with my family on Christmas Eve.  I think this has been going on since before I was born.  I know there are pictures of me when I was very small dressed as an angel in the barn in our home in Bountiful, and when my parent's moved to Oakley the tradition moved with them up to the barn at the Cannon Ranch.  Over the years the Christmas Eve party has evolved and changed to accommodate the current age of participants etc.  No matter what we do for dinner or party activities, the magic of dressing up as parts from the nativity and heading down to the barn has never lost its appeal for me.  Now the tradition is even more wonderful, because I get to share it with Brian and Timmy.  It will forever be one of my favorite evenings of the entire year.

The evening started with a delicious dinner that has taken on a Mexican flare ever since my parent's mission in Mexico.  The star was the Mexican meat Mark barbecued for us.

After dinner it was time for the nativity.  Brian and Timmy were shepherds this year for the outside part and then Brian changed to a wise man later up at the house.

Back up at the house, King Herod (Uncle Richard) was as fantastic as ever.  My favorite part this year was the singing.  All of my family sings so well and having Uncle Richard (a former member of the Tabernacle Choir) and Aunt Ann (who has an amazing soprano voice) made singing all the songs such a joy!

The wise men did a great job with their parts as well.

After the nativity it was pinata time.

My memories with my cousins on Christmas Eve are precious to me, and I hope they will be for Brian and Timmy as well.