T.R.A.D.I.T.I.O.N.S. Christmas Eve with the Dittos

Finally Christmas Eve arrived at the Dittos' house. Once again our night was full of fun traditions, TONS of food, and laughter. The Seiler Family, a teenager friend, the Sister Missionaries, and my sister Emily and her family joined us for the night.

This isn't a really awesome picture but it does represent all the delicious food we inhaled all night. Our tradition is that each person picks a favorite food for our smoragasboard. Our guests brought their favorites too so we had TONS of food. Let's see we had little smokies, mac n' cheese, potstickers, crab legs, shrimp (popcorn and fresh), Italian Sodas, homemade pizza, meatballs, peach torte, salsa, chips, mandarin oranges, jello, popcorn chicken, salad, candy, cookies, and cake.

Meanwhile while we were stuffing our faces the kiddos were busy decorating the gingerbread houses.

Next comes the loooong but FUN talent show. We had everything from dance numbers to singing to musical instrument playing to cheers.

Tyler and Nate have been perfecting their human pretzel number. It's amazing!

Alex treated us to his rendition of "Carol of the Bells" on the piano.

Ryan's gonna kill me...but his talent was my FAVORITE of the night so I just have to include it (and reap the repercussions later). He lead us all in an old cheerleading cheer. It was unforgettable!

Tyler tooted a couple of Christmas carols on his trumpet.

Chloe did a little dance number.

Alysee and Mom nervously performed "Jar of Hearts."

Birch blessed us with Christmas carol on his guitar.

Emi, Ryan, Mila, and Sage did the cutest number singing the "Fish Song."

We had several other numbers by our visiting guests so it was a fun night where none of us hid our light under a bushel!

Next up was our reenacting the Nativity. Keeping with tradition we wrote down all the characters in the nativity and then each child picked out their part. No trades allowed! Somehow Joseph didn't get picked so Birch ended up role playing that character.

Somehow Joseph didn't get picked so Birch ended up role playing that character.

Alex was a great donkey for the tired and weary pregnant Mary (Alysee).

The whole 2011 cast

Feeling sad that you missed out on our fun? Dying to see Ryan in action? No fear you can watch clips of the night right from your very own home.

If you are having trouble viewing the video you can go to: http://youtu.be/IHbG-2xww4U