Getting ready for Santa

This year marks the 1st year our family has stayed home for Christmas Eve. In the past, we've always packed up and visited our family. We decided it might be asking too much for Santa to deliver our goodies somewhere else, and thought it would be nice to start making some special memories at our own home on Christmas Eve. Here's how we enjoyed this magical time of year:

For starters, we made cookies for Santa.

Then, we met Matt at Cracker Barrel for Christmas Eve brunch.  Since Nana and Pop Buddy were in town doing some last minute shopping, they got to help taste test our cookies and even joined us for brunch!

After a nap, we decided to let the kids dress up as Mary and Joseph and read the Nativity story.

We decided on my family's traditional Christmas Eve meal of special not ham and cheese sandwiches with a little twist and red Christmas punch. 

We then put some food out for Santa's reindeer...

left some cookies and milk for Santa Claus,

and headed off to bed.