Because our family traveled to the States mid-December for my sister’s wedding, we wanted to have our own family Christmas before we left. So we celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas Day December 7-8th, just like it was the real thing.

Christmas Eve we had bean burritos, finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, drank home-made hot chocolate, and watched The Muppets’ Christmas Carol.

Christmas morning we had quiche and cinnamon rolls. This was the first year in a while that something didn’t go wrong with the cinnamon rolls. I was thrilled. We spent the morning wrapping presents, singing carols, hearing the Christmas story, and opening gifts.

Christmas afternoon each of our kids decorated a large gingerbread person to eat later that evening.

Late afternoon we invited our neighbor kids in to hear the Christmas story in Khmer. Seven kids came. Afterwards we had them decorate gingerbread cookies. It was a small (rather impromptu) way for us to share Christ’s birth with them.

The highlight of the evening was Becca’s Little People Christmas pageant. For months she’s been listening to Matthew and Luke when she goes to bed and has been rehearing for several weeks. It was a joy to watch her well-planned presentation of the Christmas story.

We were thankful to be able to have this time as a family in the midst of several very busy weeks. It was great to relax and celebrate. And then we got to pack and head to America to celebrate Christmas in the States.