Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve, we went to the early candlelight service at church.  This being our first time at our own church on Christmas Eve with our two little ladies, it was especially meaningful for us to be there.  Ellie was spirited this evening, which made us glad that this was a service geared towards little ones such as herself.  We were reminded again in a simplistically beautiful way about the true meaning of Christmas. How special this was.

My parents joined us for the evening at church and then at our house for a meatball, mash potato, and green bean dinner fit for any Scandinavian family such as ours.  And then, also following tradition, we opened a gift or two, and spent time as a family amidst the twinkling lights of our tree and the contrasting darkness outside.

An attempt at a girls' portrait followed, and at this point, Maja had officially succombed to the bewitching hour and refused to cooperate without her pacifier (note the differences in the pictures below).  Ellie dramatically tried to hold Maja to make her feel better.

And, to prove that Maja can survive without a pacifier and actually like it, here she is talking with MeMo about the evening content as a little clam.