Christmas Eve

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Jeff, Lily and I had a great Christmas Eve. We woke up and enjoyed some of Jeff's delicious pancakes and then lounged around the house just relaxing. Unfortunately, we still don't have any snow here in Germany, but there was a beautiful, white frost blanketing everything Christmas Eve morning. It at least looked like a Winter Wonderland.

After stuffing our belly's with pancakes and bacon, we let Lily open one gift a day early, her MagnaDoodle. She had been patient all month, but was so excited to finally rip into a present. The gift was wrapped in Dora the Explorer paper and she shouted "Bye Bye Dora" every time she ripped a piece off. The MagnaDoodle was a big hit and it kept her and Daddy busy most of the day while I did a little cleaning.

Later that evening we attended a dinner at King Palace Restaurant in Vaihingen with some friends at Jeff's work. It was a big event, with over 50 guests. It was a little different to be celebrating Christmas Eve at a Chinese Restaurant, in Germany, but we Prager's like to spice things up! We really enjoyed ourselves and were thankful to just be together as a family. So many other military families aren't as lucky. The appetizers and food took QUITE a while to come out of the kitchen, as the restaurant was very busy. Lily did so well waiting for dinner to arrive. She colored, played with her toys and ate some extra food we had brought for her, she was such a trooper. The food finally started coming about two hours after we arrived (we were all starving), but it was worth the wait. We enjoyed roast duck, rice, two different beef platters, lo mien, sweet and sour pork and much more. The meal was eight courses, however we only made it through about six before we decided to head home. It was already 8:45 and we didn't want Lily to be cranky on Christmas day. Besides, we really couldn't have eaten another bite! I'm sure Lily's favorite part of the evening was admiring the fish in the pond with Daddy. She was so excited with all the "fishies" swimming around she wanted to climb into the water. There was a big tree next to the pond so she was truly in her glory!

We arrived home around 9:15 and tucked our tired little angel into bed. Jeff and I were so anxious to go downstairs and prepare the house for Christmas morning. Jeff went straight to work assembling Lily's new kitchen, while I filled the stockings. Even Kastor and Kody stocking's were bursting.

When we were finished being elves Jeff and I just relaxed with some hot cider and snuggled on the couch listening to Christmas music. I think we were more excited for Santa to come than Lily.