Christmas Eve- Evening

Christmas Eve was such a special night for us. The hubs had to work so we had a girls night. After our jammie day we got gussied up around 5:00 o'clock and headed to church for the candle light service.

 The service was absolutely beautiful. This is a picture the ladies quartet singing Not So Silent Night. These wonderful ladies are AMAZING. They always give me chills! This song was especially powerful.

Emma Claire did well during the majority of the service. She was so sweet and sat in my lap quietly and just took it all in. Then towards the very end she decided she had just about enough and wanted to run around. So we went and stood in one of the alcoves and she got to run around. So sadly I don't have a picture of the church glowing with candle light because I was chasing after Emma Claire. It was beautiful though and such an awesome experience. 

After church we headed over to my friend Daniella's house. She was so gracious and kind to invite us over on Christmas eve. Daniella and I met at MOPS and she is also in our small group. She has such an amazing heart for the Lord and is one of the sweetest people I know! I was so grateful to her and her family for opening their home to Emma Claire and I on  a special night.

 Daniella had her house all decked out and the best part was the kiddo table. This was not your momma's kid's table, y'all! Each child had their own little personalized place setting and she had candy, snacks, toys, games, crafts...you name it, she had it set up! It was adorable and EC loved it!

Friends, popcorn, AND a cute dog? Emma Claire was in heaven!

All of the kiddos. They had a BLAST!

How sweet is this sticker manger set?

Daniella's house is just gorgeous! I LOVE her kitchen! And all of her decorations, beautiful.

How cute are these mason jars? She is so creative!

Y'all. Dinner was OUTSTANDING. I felt like I was at a restaurant. I kid you not. We started off with homemade Italian wedding soup that was divine.

 Then we had homemade manicotti with bread and salad. Also wonderful.

After the first two courses it all started to run together. We had ham, beef, roasted vegetables, rice, cornish game hens, and more. It was a treat, that's for sure. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Then there was dessert...

We didn't get home until almost midnight and Emma Claire was wiped out. She was such a trooper and did so great staying out so late. I was a proud momma!

And in case you were worried the hubs missed out...Daniella sent me home with a TON of food for him! He loved it all and ate most of it that night.

I cannot tell you how blessed I felt on Christmas Eve. It's always hard to be away from family at Christmastime but being around friends makes it so much easier. So here is a big THANK you to Daniella and her sweet family! :-)