Christmas Eve 2015

Time flies when you're having fun (or working on a rotational work schedule)! Vince and I were at work for the three weeks leading up to Christmas and got home on the eve of Christmas Eve. We unpacked, settled in for the night, and rested up for what we knew would be a busy day. We had a lot to do- check the mail, get groceries, find a Christmas tree, wrap presents, prep for our Christmas dinner, and go to church- but we were looking forward to the excitement :)

Our first stop: mail! Our boxes filled my car to the

brim, so we had to go back home to drop off the goods...

The next stop we made was our favorite

butcher shop... Needless to say, it was busy!

From there, we set out to find a tree

Luckily, there were about 5-6 left in our size range...

In the car!

Then it was time to brave Costco... not as bad as I'd expected- whew!

After a few runs back and forth to the store (ran out of lights for the

tree on our first attempt), we got our first Christmas tree up and decorated :)

Time to prep- this was the beginnings of our "porchetta"

From there, we cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for Midnight Mass

The Nativity Scene at our church- sweet and serene

We got back from church around 1:30 am; time to go to bed

if we wanted a visit from Santa!! "The stockings were placed by the

chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nick soon would be there..."