Merry Christmas

It was a glorious day - really great. I surprised everyone by being the first one up - wanted to get the pastries I had left out to rise (sounds like I baked from scratch, but these were frozen cinnamon braid and caramel rolls that we bought from a soccer fundraiser in early fall) in the oven. They were looking luscious after sitting out in the warmth (relatively speaking) of the kitchen and covered in plastic wrap. Were now three times the size they were when I went to bed - and they baked up easily and were delicious. Had lattes ready for me and J. (kids declined) and we started the great unwrapping around 8.

They had some video games to unwrap. PJs, clothes, socks, underwear, t-shirts, etc. But the main event was a scavenger hunt for cash. This year, instead of giving each of them a 'big' present and then a combined 'big' present, we decided to just stick with money. They know what they want. They change their minds as often as the tide changes and it's just easier (and safer) to give them money. But I make them work for it.

I had 16 clues. They were 'riddle' clues and took some noodling over for them to think of what I meant. For example:

We (sp?) = Wii (the envelopes were on the Wii set in the family room)

Owie! = envelopes in the band aid box under the sink in their bathroom.

Moo! = on the Cow Parade shelf of cows in the dining room.

A latte loot! = on the latte machine in the kitchen.

You get the idea. They had a terrific time and were stunned into silence at the grand total. They were over the moon happy - and received other really wonderful gifts from family to add to that total....so they spent the day planning shopping, etc. H. needs a new snowboard (thanks to a 12 inch [yes, really] growth spurt this past year that made his relatively new board from last year too short) and new bindings. B. is probably going to buy a better set of golf clubs. But for now, they are enjoying the joy of having cash - and all the fun in planning to spend it. We will make at trip to Stoneridge Mall next week after New Years. We were planning to go tomorrow but a snow board trip was too tempting to pass up.

They also spent the day preparing to head to the slopes tomorrow - not all final semester grades are in but the ones that are in are improved - so we agreed to let them take the Snow Cruiser bus up to Dodge Ridge tomorrow. There's a group of about 10 friends going - they leave at 5:45 and get home around 6ish. They've been finding snow clothes, tightening bindings, etc. all day - along with playing their new Playstation games, etc. We've had a good week of storms and there's finally quite a bit of snow - tomorrow is the first run of the Cruiser and it's a good deal. Lift ticket and transportation for $69. The kids sleep most of the way up, snowboard hard all day and sleep most of the way home. They will have a great time and it's really fun that so many friends were able to coordinate a free day at the same time. A rare and wonderful thing.

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner of standing rib roast (same as prime rib - I didn't know that) - we slow roasted it on 200 degrees all day - it was fantastic. I made Popovers - which didn't turn out perfect, but turned out OK. Green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie for dessert. Yummy!

Chloe wasn't left out - she received two new toys, which she carried around in her mouth most of the day - afraid to let them out of her site. She was with us all day and had a great time running all around and trying to commune with the cats.

Church services last night were lovely and we were glad we went. Though it was very emotional for us - the pastor mentioned how he knew a lot of people in attendance were missing someone from their celebration. This wasn't our first Christmas without my mom and Jim's folks, but it still was hard. Will it ever be 'easy'? I miss my Mom starting in November with her birthday and then carrying forward throughout the holiday season..culminating in a terribly hard December. Though it's a happy time and we enjoy it, we still miss them a lot and it was hard at church last night. But the candlelight was as lovely as ever and we enjoyed the music and the sermon.

I received many wonderful things - and I love them all! But I want to mention one particular gift that was so incredibly sweet. When H. went to SF a couple weeks ago with friends, he came home with a package. He quickly said 'uh, nothing' when I inquired what it was. This morning, I unwrapped a new Cow Parade cow - that sweet young man had found a cow, called J. from SF that evening to inquire if I already had it and just to be sure, looked at each cow when he got home to be SURE the one he selected for me was not one I had. Her name is Cali-Cow - she's covered in patchwork hearts. It's a perfect blend of two things I love - quilting and Cow Parade. It was so sweet! I just love it!

I hope your Christmas was faith-filled and fun!