On the Eve of His birth

I think it is because of our traditions growing up, but I have always liked Christmas Eve to be the "spiritual" part of Christmas - forget about the presents and Santa, the treats and the parties, and just focus on Christ.  We have had several discussions and activities throughout the month about Jesus Christ and the "real" meaning of Christmas and I think my kids actually "got it" this year.  It made me so happy to listen to them re-tell the story themselves and to hear them telling each other that we were really celebrating Jesus' birthday.  So this year for Christmas Eve, we stuck with our tradition (for the 2nd year) of going to Temple Square to see the Nativity and the Christmas lights.  And the evening turned out to be just right.

We rode the "train" into downtown and luckily planned a little better this year and instead of eating at the first place we saw, we had a perfect dinner at the Olive Garden.  We actually don't take the kids out to eat very often, so this was a treat.  How can you go wrong with all you can eat breadsticks and noodles?  And the best part of dinner was that two people came up to our table and told me what a lovely family we had and how well behaved the boys were.  (Maybe they were thinking about Santa coming.)

After dinner we bundled up and headed 2 blocks over to Temple Square. The beauty of it never disappoints. The pictures really don't do it justice.  I am always amazed at how every tiny limb is illuminated, and of course the temple was gorgeous as always.

The boys and I squeezed up front to see the life-size nativity.  For just a moment, it is possible to completely forget about the cold and to be enveloped in the story.  Even though it gets crowded, and even though it looks the same every year, I love it every time.  And I love seeing the renewed awe the boys have as well.  (I wish I could have gotten better pictures of the wise men and the shepherds, it really is quite neat.)

All in all it turned out to be a great night.  Most importantly, we spent time together, we made memories and we rejoiced in the birth of our Savior.  So until next year...