Rockey Cousin Christmas

When we were kids, Christmas Eve was always spent at my Grandma and Grandpa Rockey's house.  We would have a nice meal, open presents, put out luminaries, look at Christmas lights, and sing Christmas carols.  With just the four cousins left, we want to carry on that tradition as much as possible.  Unfortunately, Travis, Emily, and Claire couldn't make it this year. However, we still continued some old traditions, as well as started a few of our own.

We started with having a yummy meal cooked by Debbie.  What would a holiday be without a kids' table?

We then had the kids exchange presents. 

We ended our celebration by singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and enjoying some yummy birthday cake.  The candle is a nice touch, don't you think?  :-)

While Debbie and her family headed over to celebrate with Heath's side of the family, Michelle's and my family headed to church.  Although my pictures absolutely stink, the kids had a blast singing and dancing to the music.  Since they usually are in their own classes, they loved being with us and did a great job sitting through the message.

We ended our evening by putting out luminaries at our house.  When we were little, the entire Sun City West community would put out luminaries.  It was so beautiful to see the neighborhood lined with candle light.  I decided I wanted to do try this with our kids this year, in honor of our beloved and missed grandparents.  Rather than using real tea lights, I opted for the LED version though.

We started by putting sand into the bags from the sandbox.

 We then loaded the lights into the bags.

Finally, we lined our driveway with the luminaries.  Please excuse the pictures ... I forgot to switch modes on my camera.

It was a great day, full of great memories.  Even better, the kids were exhausted!  They took a quick bath and went straight to sleep.  Talan didn't wake up until 7:30 Christmas morning and I woke Hunter up at 8:15.