MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE 2012

AHHHH!!!  CHRISTMAS  EVE  !!! My favorite day of the year.
The skies had clouded up overnight and it was foggy and dreary this morning with light rain and mild 50's temperatures.
After our regular morning duties hubbie and I had some last minute shopping to get done this morning. Usually the mornings are not so crowded and this was true in our local mall.
The mall Santa Claus was receiving some last minute visits from children this morning as we walked by.

Hubbie took a pic of me by one of the mall trees, he is not good with my camera and never waits for the auto focus to finish.

You can see by my packages we found all our last minute gifts and were able to get home at lunch,escaping what will be a busy last minute shopping day for many.
#1 son and g-son came to have lunch with us while d-in-love had to work half day today.  G-son is vibrating with excitement, he is so fun to watch !!
After they left I spent another afternoon in the kitchen cooking. For our family dinner tonight I made baked mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, rice and brocolli casserole, baked potatoes, seven layer salad and a cottage cheese/orange salad to go with the ham and turkey we have left over from last night. With two days in a row of cooking all afternoon my back is screaming at me as it always does when I overstay my welcome in the kitchen,which is quite often these days !!
The chores were finished early again tonight as the candle light service at church starts at 6:00.After dumping 1/2" of rain out of the gauge at chore time, the skies have cleared and it is a beautiful mild evening, perfect for an outside "Joy To The World" sung by the congregation to end our candle light service.
I took cake gifts for the 2 pastors and for some of the men in church who have recently lost their wives. Hopefully these will help make this Christmas a little sweeter for them.
The church was packed tonight and it was a glorious time.

G-son was a little angel all during the service as he gazed intently at his candle.

D-in-love who plays the violin and base guitar on stage during the service took this picture at the end of the service as we held our candles high pledging to be lights of the world throughout the year.

Here is the ensemble as they play the old Christmas carols. D-in-love is playing the base guitar in this one.

A wonderful service to begin the season's celebrations !!

Afterward we had our family Christmas, sadly with one member missing as #2 son unexpectedly had to work very late delivering mail to a processing facility in Asheville tonight.
We thought about postponing but that would have devastated g-son who was jumping around in so much excitement over getting to open packages. So we decided to save the gifts #2 son had bought and have lunch with him tomorrow and open those gifts. This is the tree with all the gifts ready to be opened after we eat.

His  face says it all as he started ripping the paper off all his huge pile of gifts.

 In no time at all he had them all unwrapped and was having a very hard time deciding what to play with first.

In the remainder of the evening he tried to cram in everything he could,it was so much fun to watch !!

Children bring the true "joy" into the meaning of Christmas, from the baby born in the manger on that fateful night to the smiles on all kids faces as they open the brightly colored gifts,yes "pure joy"  !!!
Humbly grateful tonight for the love of my Lord who gave the most precious gift of all time so we all could celebrate the love of Christmas forever.
Good Night,Merry Christmas and God Bless.