Twas the night before Christmas.....

This Christmas Eve we took the girls downtown and spent part of the day at the Durahm Museum and strolling the streets of the Old Market. We love the Durahm Museum but it is particularly special at Christmas time....bringing in the largest indoor tree in the area.

the girls have this big obsession with the Indian display. Particularly the teepee....
right now they have a traveling display called "Cut" featuring costumes from the movies.

I was in heaven! Those costumes, those dresses! Ah! Amazing! This piece was worn in "Gosford Park" by Maggie Smith. And that red dress......

this one...was worn in The Land of the Blind. So stunning. The girls could not take their eyes off of it. Marvelly kept telling me that THIS is the dress she wants to wear at her wedding. You go for it girl! If me and Isaak got married again, that is what I would wear too! And next to it was this soft pink dress worn by Emmy Rossum in Phantom of the Opera. So many stunning pieces. Ah, to be born in the 1800's and get to wear dresses like this.....*sigh*

And then we walked around downtown for a while. I love it down here. We have a great downtown with charming brick streets and a plethora of restaurants and stores in renovated warehouses from the late 1800's. I love coming down here.

I think the girls were eager to fall asleep so they could wake up and open presents. :~)

We enjoyed a nice quiet dinner, with just us tonight. Isaak made a ham and turkey with potatoes and stuffing and I made some homemade honey rolls. We sat around the big table with Trans Siberian Orchestra playing in the background.

And then after dinner we let the girls open up one special gift....new nightgowns to sleep next to the tree in.

 and then we gave them one more...a Christmas tradition of opening up a new movie every year on Christmas Eve and watching it before bed. This year they got "How To Train Your Dragon" (which they've already seen and absolutely LOVE). Such a great movie.

So all four of us squeezed onto the love seat and watched the movie, then the girls settled down in their sleeping bags next to the tree for bed. Isaak read them "Twas The Night Before Christmas" and an hour later I am still waiting for the to go to sleep! They are very eager for the morning, not that I blame them. :~) As a kid I couldn't wait to run into the living room and see all the gifts piled under the tree. My parents saved most of the wrapping for Christmas Eve so when we woke it was always so exciting to see how the gifts under the tree had grown. I love that they hold that same enthusiasm. They are very thankful tonight. And so am I.

Tomorrow we bake a cake (or perhaps put candles in some mini cupcakes I already made) to celebrate Jesus' birthday and give Him praise for His life and love!

It was a most enjoyable Christmas Eve!