It is tradition for us to head to Grandma Cathy's house to spend all of Christmas Eve there. Now that Grandma and Grandpa Whitten live in Goldendale, the tradition has extended to include them as well! Molly spent the previous night at Grandma Cathy's so she could help her prep all the food we were to enjoy. She was so excited to show off what they had made when we showed up! I especially loved the cheese ball and bacon crackers. YUM! Well done, Molly. I baked peanut butter blossoms and chocolate chip cookies to bring as well.
We like to keep Christmas Eve simple. It's all about relaxing. We snack all day, watch Christmas movies, chat, listen to music, and play the dice game!
This year playing the dice game was extra fun because it wasn't just Grandma Cathy and myself buying gifts for the dice game, Grandma Whitten did too! We seriously had a huge pile of gifts for the game! We also made the game a bit more smooth going by buying a whole bunch of dice, so everyone had their own bowl and dice to use. Much easier than having to pass one set of bowl and dice around the circle and have the bowl and dice go flying from excited hands trying to pass it fast. Grandma Cathy likes to watch and not play the dice game, but Grandma and Grandpa Whitten played!
Roll a double, pick a gift! When the gifts are all gone, prepare for the lightening steal round! Roll a double, steal a gift! haha
It was so fun having Grandma and Grandpa Whitten join us for their first Christmas Eve in Goldendale. The dice game is definitely the highlight of the day. Everyone looks forward to playing it and we all got lots of fun goodies! Mine was the small bigfoot figurine I bought while in VT this past fall, lol.
Sammy and I sent everyone off to bed and then the waiting game began. Once we were sure Molly and Tim were asleep, we called Anthony (well, we text him, lol!) out to help stuff and hang up Molly and Timothy's stockings and set out their Santa gifts. He likes to help out and feel included. I love that. I'm sure next year Molly will want to as well. What will we do when they all want to? Maybe we'll let them stuff and hang each other's stockings, but go back to keeping the Santa gifts secret from everyone. When all was said and done, we sent Anthony off to his room so he couldn't see his stocking and Santa gift. You got to keep some surprises for the older kids!
I definitely love our home at Christmas time. I just love the lights! I actually keep up the white lights along the back of the couch and the windows year round....or at least until they burn out, lol. They just make the house feel so much more warm and cozy.
With love,
Santa's coming tonight, tonight! (Name that tune, kiddos!)
With love,
Mama Hauck
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