Christmas Traditions - Christmas Eve

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  We have been enjoying Ken's parents, who are still here and will be helping us ring in the New Year.  We've been busy cooking, eating, and hanging out with the family.

I'm going to wrap up our Christmas Traditions series by sharing a few more traditions with you.  I hope you enjoyed the photos, and maybe those of you who are searching for new traditions for your family or future family might have gotten a few ideas.  :)

There are three things we always do on Christmas Eve that we really look forward to.  We go to the Christmas Eve candle light service at our church, we have English Christmas Crackers at our dinner table, and we end the evening with the kids opening one present.

The Christmas Eve service is always lovely, 

and draws our attention the coming of the Messiah, 

the Light of the World.

Christmas Eve dinner is Frito Pie,

something we adopted from my Mom's family.

We layer chili, fritos, and cheese, 

then put it in the oven at 250 to bake

for two-ish hours while we go to the

candlelight service.
Why Frito Pie?
Because it is fast and easy to make,
and helps save cooking energy for Christmas dinner!
For us, it is also Frito Pie because that's what my Mom,
 and my Mom's Mom served. Tradition!

Before we begin dinner, we open our Christmas Crackers.

Everyone wears their hats during the meal, 

and we read the jokes and play with the prizes.

It is always a hoot!

This year, the crackers had various mustaches,
all which had a name:

The Casanova, The Party Boy, etc.

It was hysterical!  Especially watching Malachi try 

to give us a serious look for the picture.  :)
(He couldn't do it!)

Here's a few fun pictures from years gone by.

2010

 2014

After dinner...

I always try to pick a present for each of them to open

that I know will be fun for them

to enjoy for an hour or so before bed.