Merry Christmas!!

What a whirlwind of a Christmas! Since both of our families live nearby we were able to spend a lot of time with them. On Christmas Eve we went to Steve parent's house. Four of my siblings were able to join us. We had the traditional clam chowder which is what Steve grew up with, but I was nervous the first time I heard that was their tradition. I am not a fan of clam chowder, but this stuff is different. I mean, for starters, it is so amazingly good! You should try it sometime. But the food item everyone looks forward to all year is my mother in law's 14 layer jello. Count them. 14. That is dedication. She starts the night before and mixes and pours 14 times. That is something. It is the best tasting jello out there.


We also played a rip roaring game of Apples to Apples (one of Steve's favorites!). It was heated like most games with my family. We are pretty subjective when it comes to games while Steve likes to play by the written rules. Steve is still talking about a game he lost a year and half ago to my sister's rules...



Christmas day started with M feeding the cats. Of course, manners are always important so she made sure their fur would stay clean and that the food was in a container.


Christmas afternoon found us at my mom's house for a fabulous ham lunner (lunch and dinner). Afterward we opened gifts. We sit in a circle and after all the gifts have been passed out we open them youngest to oldest. One at a time. We ooh and ahh over each one. We also have a tradition called Aunt Hildegarde gifts. We had an eccentric aunt who sent us the most random gifts at Christmas (white pillows covered in cat hair, rusted out pencil sharpeners, etc...) and when she died we were so sad that we would not get any of her creative Christmas gifts. So in honor of Aunt Hildegarde we draw names and buy or make odd presents for each other. This year's winners were: a wolf puzzle for my brother who roots for Team Jacob. (Disclaimer: He only saw the movies and thought Edward was creepy.), Snorta, a game that requires intense animal sounds to win, and my brothers and I made a CD for Steve featuring the song Don't Know Much sung by Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt. Classic! There were serious gifts as well with M being spoiled by Grandma. She got a microphone which she quickly put to use and a neat color sorting game.


Then on to Steve's family where we ate yummy turkey and opened presents. They spoiled us. M in particular. They got her a pink bus which has been honking ever since and a telephone that she talks into all day. She says, "Uh huh. Okay. Talk to you later. Bye." Later on in the evening we were able to use Skype to talk to Steve's brother and his family who live out of state. That is some pretty crazy technology. His mom made an impressive looking cranberry pudding cake with sauce, but everyone was having so much fun that it was forgotten. Bummer. Maybe next time!


We hope your Christmas was marvelous! Full of family, food, and laughter. We are praying for you!