Our little shepherds

This year, we celebrated Christmas a little bit early. Mike had to work on Christmas day, of course, but he did have Thursday off. So on Wednesday night, we had our Christmas Eve dinner. For the last few years, we've done a Shepherd's dinner and read the Christmas story from the scriptures. Here are our little shepherds:

We ate our Shepherd's dinner on a blanket, and talked about being both sheep and shepherds. It is a fun family tradition (picked up from ward friends in Columbus.) After that, we opened up Christmas pajamas, drank hot russian and had treats while Bailey and Avery ran around like crazy.

Bailey had been excited about Christmas in years past, but this was the first Christmas that she could hardly wait. She made sure Santa had cookies and milk, and that we put enough carrots out for ALL the reindeer. She was adorable!

Before she headed to bed, she asked us if Santa still left presents if she saw him. We told her he did, so less than a minute after we put her down, she was sneaking out, looking for Santa. We told her to at least wait until we went to bed to look for him, but that didn't stop her from making three more sneaky trips before she fell asleep at nine.

In case you are interested, here is the recipe for out Christmas Eve dinner:

Shepherd's Dinner

Serves at least 12

10 chicken breasts

Rub with garlic and sprinkle with Lawry Season salt

3 to 4 c red potatoes diced (not peeled)

2 c sweet potatoes peeled and dices

2 c cooking apples sliced

3 c carrots, peeled and sliced

2 c celery

1 c raisins

1 c craisins

1 c pecans chopped coarsely

2 bunches green onions chopped

2 tsp cinnamon

Tear parchment paper into squares.  Place chicken in center.  Toss all other ingredients together.  Heap veggies on top of breasts.  Bring 4 corners up and tie with string (twine, kite string).  Put bunches on cookies sheet for one hour at 350 degrees.

Sauce:

1 c beef broth

1 c cream of mushroom soup

½ c orange juice concentrate

½ c currant jelly

¼ tsp minced garlic

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp dried basil

½ c melted butter

Mix above ingredients together, heat, and serve warm