My sister rolled into town with her boyfriend Trevor around 5 pm this afternoon, which means that all the necessary holiday parties are present and accounted for. My parents and I spent most of the day talking about doing some early food prep without actually getting down to business, so my dad and I will be getting up around 8:30 am in order to chop celery, onions, mushrooms and garlic for stuffing (the turkey has to be in by 10:30 am at the latest).

We’ve made our Christmas wishes and the candles we wished on are still burning outside on the back porch. My mom and I did manage to get an enormous apple crisp baked off today, which is good since there will be no room in the oven for such things tomorrow. I went to church tonight, the same church where I grew up and learned to be a member a community larger than my family. I’ve been there nearly every Christmas Eve for the the last 19 years and so it doesn’t really feel like Christmas if I’m not there. We sang the same old Christmas carols and at the end, lit candles and sang Silent Night.

This is a slightly disjointed post, so I’m going to end it with a clip of my sister and Trevor playing some music earlier tonight. I do love a holiday that becomes a jam session. I have high hopes for tomorrow.