Scenes of Christmas Day part two

These are a few pictures of Christmas Day at our home. Craig was home so he and Jacob got up early and checked out the scene under the Christmas tree. Jacob soon began serenading us with Christmas carols in an attempt to get us up out of bed...presents needed to be opened! Of course the fire was lit, though somehow Santa neglected to put anything in the stockings. Hmmm, perhaps that had something to do with us not leaving out a snack for him.Before any present opening, the boys had to pose for the traditional first portrait of Christmas.
We went to church that morning, then returned home and started working on the feast for our family. I created my world famous bacon cheese grits bread, always a favorite.
The dough includes grits and cheese, and is then rolled out and bacon, more cheese, and red and green pesto are added.
The dough is rolled up "jelly roll fashion" and baked. Yum!
Here's a cross sectional view of the bacon cheese portion.
We had a huge gathering for dinner. I believe we had a total of 16 around the table. We were only missing our son Stephen and his wife Betsy and Craig's girlfriend Brooke in order for the scene to be complete. Stephen was due to fly in that night, but due to weather issues he was delayed.
After many activities Jacob and the girls slowed down for some evening story time.

Scenes of Christmas Day

We visited with my parents in Oak Ridge the day before Christmas. My sister Laura and her family made the trip to spend Christmas there, so it was a great reunion. Jacob spent part of the time performing Christmas carols on the ukulele while Kaley sang along.My nieces are precious and very photogenic. Sometimes they are moving so quickly that they are just a blur.
The girls left out a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve. I still can't figure out how Santa gets the presents into my parent house, as they chimney leads to a fireplace in the basement, not on the main floor.
The girls make happy Christmas sounds with their hand bells while checking out their stockings, which I imagine were filled will all sorts of goodies.
It's Christmas morning and time to open presents at my parents' house. We were not there but we have these pictures to share. Christmas morning is always more exciting when young kids are involved!
In the afternoon the gang from Oak Ridge came over to our house. We opened some more presents. Jacob was delighted to receive a variety of hot sauces. Since our return from Indonesia Jacob has been searching for a good hot sauce here.
Jacob had a great time with the girls. As the big kid he can toss them around...gently.
Kaley enjoys rides around the house and is quite adventurous to not hang on.
Craig joined the action and the group paused long enough for a picture in front of the tree. This is our "formal" tree with matching ornaments and white and red bows.
Here I am with my brothers and sister. That's Doug, Laura and Mark.

Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship at St. John's

If you are ever near Knoxville on Christmas Even and want to experience an incredible worship, come to St. John's! This year we held the candlelight services at 6:30 and 9:30 and both were packed to standing room only. Nancy and I served as greeters, and Craig saved us some great seats up front.Jacob stepped into the shoes of his older brother Stephen, taking on the role of the Bible bearer.
The St. John's sanctuary is decorated with two trees filled with white Chrismond ornaments, which were handmade by church members many years ago. The pews are topped by candles, and for the service everyone in the congregation had a candle of their own.
The music was incredible, with the organ and choir complemented by a trumpet and flute.
Shawn White, on trumpet, joins us for all major events and festivals. He's practically part of the family!
The church is decorated for the Christmas season with dozens (hundreds?) of poinsettia plants.
Christmas Eve is a "high mass", which means it is formal, including a full Gospel procession. Before the Gospel is read, the Bible is led by the crucifer and torch bearers down the steps into the center of the sanctuary.
Jacob as Bible bearer holds the big Bible over his head while walking down the steps. Thank goodness he didn't trip! The torch bearers are in front of him, while Pastor Steve gives him plenty of room before following. The Christ candle is lit in the middle of the Advent wreath, signifying that Christmas is here (almost!)
The group stops in the middle of the sanctuary for the Gospel reading.
We love the symbolism of the Gospel procession and the immediacy of the Gospel being read right in the middle of the congregation.

Christmas Eve Day

It's been a whirlwind of activity leading up to Christmas. Last night we held our Christmas "open house" where mostly church friends stop by for some fellowship and goodies. In the past days we have enjoyed Jacob's school band Christmas concert, the church children's Christmas pageant, the church choir Christmas concert (in conjunction with the St. Paul's Methodist Church), the church youth group party at our house, and many other activities. There is so much going on that we actually didn't make it to some of our usual events...but there is always next year. In this picture members of the youth group show off the presents they have ended up with. They did a gift exchange where each person brings a small gift, then they are opened one by one and participants can trade gifts with each other.

My entire family will be in town for Christmas, and our out-of-town sons will also be here. Craig arrived from Virginia on Thursday, and Reverend Stephen arrives late Christmas evening (after leading Christmas Day services in Amarillo, Texas).

We have been cooking and eating many special foods. There were so many cookies and sweets at school that I pretty much had to stop eating them for a few days just to "stabilize". Of course then I went back to enjoying them.

The Saturday before Christmas we drove for two hours up to Johnson City, Tennessee to visit with some old friends from college. They are so old that they have kids in college (unlike us, we have kids who have graduated from college!) Kim and Phil also have two daughters who are ballet dancers, and we went to see them perform in the "Nutcracker" ballet. It was very well done and quite beautiful, though not quite as exciting as seeing the two older boys play in a soccer match. This is a picture of Nancy and our college friend Kim.

Our neighborhood is decorated with lights on the houses, many Christmas wreaths with red bows, and also some pretty tacky looking inflatable figures in the front yards. Disclaimer: tacky is a judgement and what is tacky to some is beautiful for others. See the photo at the top of the post and make your own judgement.