Christmas Eve

One more pie is still in the oven for tomorrow's Christmas dinner, the counter top is full of dirty pots and pans, and I'm beat! Yet being tired doesn't make Christmas Eve less special. Even an old Granny knows when to sit back and enjoy remembering what God did for us when He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins.

There's many, many things for which to be thankful in this past year, too. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's celebration when our family gets together to share gifts and eat a wonderful banquet. On Thanksgiving, we had 26 different dishes and I suspect our Christmas meal will be similarly blessed with everyone contributing a little.

I'm especially pleased that some of our grandchildren have been prodded by their parents to fix and bring some dinner items. Some of the littlest ones are delighted to be helping with the meal and it is excellent training. Young grandsons are bringing jello (they like the green and purple kinds). One granddaughter is making the potato casserole, and another is baking two pumpkin pies. One of the four-year-olds says she will help her mother make a chocolate dessert! Last Thanksgiving, one of the two-year olds separated bakery rolls and placed them on the cookie sheet, but tomorrow morning I am making homemade rolls. It should take about three batches in the oven before all 70 are done!

Then we'll take the rolls, five pies, a cake, and presents now stacked by the dining room wall to one of our children's houses. We'll first go to an early Mass where the stable will be lit and statues of Mary, Joseph, and the Child Jesus will remind us of when He lay in a manger 2,000 years ago. It's time to be a child again, with complete trust in God as we approach the new year.

Merry Christmas! May God give each of you His choicest blessings.