So we had a wonderful extended Christmas. My parents came to visit the week before and Mike's parents and sister were here the weekend before Christmas. So we had a fun and drawn out celebration. Emma really loves all the trappings of Christmas - the music, the trees, the decorations, the cookies, the presents, and having family around. I'm not sure how she will react when it all goes away.

We had a wonderful Fondue Christmas dinner on the 23rd. We were of course too full to even think about doing the dessert fondue that night, so we had waffles and fruit with chocolate amaretto fondue for breakfast on Christmas Eve - a tradition I highly recommend. Then of course I had to have tamales, guacamole, and shrimp cocktail on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day we did lots of appetizers, and today I'm cooking an after Christmas sale turkey. So needless to say, we've eaten some seriously yummy food in the last few days. January's for dieting, right?

We had our Via Christus Christmas Eve service here. It was a smaller group, but still a special time. We sang my favorite Christmas carols (one of the perks of being in on service planning...), shared Christmas memories, and celebrated the advent of Jesus together. All the kids were part of the service, and my vote for the moment of the season was when Corwin and Emma decided to kiss each other on the lips in front of everyone - I could hardly stop laughing.

We opened gifts with Mike's family on Christmas Eve. Emma seemed to have more fun taking gifts to people than opening them herself. She does seem to really enjoy the Little People Castle and Toy House she got from her two sets of grandparents. She's really beginning to get into pretend play so those are just perfect for her right now. Everyone got me books this year which is fantastic so I now have a huge stack of books to read. Some carolers from the neighborhood came by that evening as well - it was really a fun night.


Mike's family left early on Christmas, so we spent the day relaxing and "playing" with our new toys. We watched movies, played games, and just had fun together as a family. Read more about it at Mike's blog. After the busyness leading up to Christmas (although it was all really really fun), it was great to just relax. We still have New Year's to go - a church service and all night party at a local camp which should be really fun. But as always I find this time of year weird. I want to get back to a more normal life, but I don't want the holidays to end. I like the decorations and lights and focus of the season and returning to ordinary life can be deflating. It's just an awkward time of year - and stranger still this year because we didn't travel and so the holidays are over early for us. But catching up on real life beckons...

So that was our Christmas. It was fun, and crazy, and relaxing. I hope your holiday was just as special.

Labels: Holidays, Personal