Christmas Eve

Josh is excited to be staying at his great-grandfather's house for Christmas Eve. We spent the day at my sister's farm--eating, playing games, opening gifts. Josh has already opened and put on his Christmas Eve pajamas (Family tradition--our girls always got new pajamas on Christmas Eve. I tried to discontinue the practice once they were all adults and Kate complained to one of our priests--who promptly gave me teasing grief about ditching a family tradition.)

We'll be leaving in about 30 minutes for Midnight Mass over in West Lafayette. Josh says he's looking forward to it. Thankfully the temperature has warmed enough to melt the worst of the road ice, although it has rained hard today and there are a lot of flooded, slushy roads now.

Mikkel and Mauricio were a fun addition to our holiday at the farm. I think they're enjoying their US holiday. They and my sister and brother-in-law are leaving tomorrow afternoon to visit our father and Mary in Arizona. The boys are looking forward to the warmth!

We ended our evening at the farm with a Christmas Eve story. We started doing this a few years ago. This year I took Josh's old favorite, Auntie Claus and a pop-up version of The Night Before Christmas which we have had since Josh's mom was a little girl. My sister is our reader and she personalizes each character in the story. It's fun to hear her and I love watching Joshua as he listens to the story.

We leave soon for Mass. Then back here for bed and Christmas morning gifts. We'll meet up with Kate and James in Indianapolis on Friday when their plane arrives from Pennsylvania. Our days have been full and Kevin feels rotten. I think it's a cold but he slept much of today at the farm and is dozing now, although he says he wants to go to Mass. Our nomadic holiday may be too tiring for him this year.