Christmas

Do you have a favorite Christmas memory? I do. I grew up with lots of special family get togethers with all of my cousins and second cousins aunts and uncles throughout the year... But one of the most special times was getting together on Christmas Eve. My great grandparents Arthur and Evelina Johnson had their 7 kids plus families over on Christmas Eve. We had a Swedish Christmas celebration that included reading Luke 2, singing Christmas songs, a smorgasbord, and lots of fun with about 70 family members. My favorite Swedish food is ost kaka. I love ost kaka, and for me it is not Christmas with out it.
Our Christmas Eve get together ended with all of us going to church. We went to my great grandparents church in Concord for a candlelight service that started at 11:00 pm. The time always seemed so magical to me as a child and still does. We sang my favorite Christmas songs about the birth of Jesus... heard the story of his coming to earth... and listened to my aunts, uncles and grandma sing beautifully in the choir. Somehow the service always ended precisely at 12:00 am on Christmas morning and we would all joyfully say "Merry Christmas" to one another.
I think that Christmas Eve is still my favorite family day of the year. Now that my great grandparents have gotten promoted to heaven we go to my Grandma Johnson's (who is now a great grandma too) on Christmas Eve and celebrate the same way. Although my extended family isn't at Grandma's, most years we still get to see eachother at the candlelight service. It makes for a wonderful Christmas tradition... this year was different and you can read about why in my next post:)