Christmas Eve

A few days ago I had an emotional moment and I called my out of town husband and said, "what if we flew home for Christmas and surprised everyone?" I just knew he'd say yes and I'd be booking tickets and surprising everyone on Christmas Eve. He said no. Too expensive, not enough time to pack,  yada yada. I was really bummed, but decided to get over it. We are spending our second Christmas in California and I'm making the most of it.

A few weeks ago we went to Candy Cane Lane. It's a street in the back of a neighborhood near LAX where every house was decked out with Christmas lights and decor. It was really awesome.

The girls loved it. California Christmases aren't too bad, I guess.

The worst part about being away from family at Christmas is some of the special occasion stuff seems less special. Like Christmas Eve dinner. I miss going to my mama's house after candlelight service for a big, fancy dinner and sibling gift exchange.

So tonight, we came home from church and had our dinner by candlelight. It was just the four of us, but it really was special eating ham by candlelight.

The girls thought it was really special. Beatrice loved eating on the Christmas china and drinking from the special crystal.

After dinner the girls opened one gift and were off to bed. Tomorrow's a big day and even without family, we are going to have a special Christmas.

Merry Christmas, everyone!