Ewan was actually the first one up this morning. He woke up at 7:30, so we took him down to have a peak before the older boys "took over". As you can tell, Ewan really had no idea what was going on. (By the way, he is holding his Wells Fargo doggy....he has to hold it by the tail to go to sleep!)
Harrison ran down the stairs first. "Yup, Santa DID come!" He ran to check if the cookies and milk were eaten. Apparently Santa had moved the empty plate over to the bigger, sturdier kitchen table. When Harrison saw that everything was gone from the card table, he said, "Santa took the plate, too! I guess he's gonna be arrested."
Our three blue-and-white-striped boys, ready to dig into their stockings and to open their presents! Harrison worked on that hair-do all night long.
Zane was more excited over the chapstick than anything else. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Andy's Mom and Dad and Lindsey spent this night so it was fun to have them here to share in the Christmas festivities. I think watching the boys reaction to everything was the most fun. After every present he opened, Harrison would say, "Where is my Ben 10 watch?" (Santa had purposely shoved that present under the back corner of the Christmas tree so it would be opened last. He knew that once the boys opened up the Ben 10 watch, all the other presents would be forgotten.)
For breakfast, we had the traditional fruit cocktail, lil' smokies in barbecue sauce in the crock pot, and homemade bran muffins. To me, this is the best Christmas breakfast. I didn't have room in my fridge this time, but usually I mix up the fruit cocktail (just dump cans of fruit and coarsely chop any fruit of your choice) and the bran muffins the night before. It is such an easy, care-free breakfast that can be snacked on all day until the big Christmas dinner! For the fruit cocktail this year we had: mangoes, papaya, bananas, pears, peaches, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, kiwi, pineapple, mandarin oranges, and maraschino cherries. It was the most beautiful and most delicious fruit cocktail ever! The secret to a good fruit cocktail is to put individual cans of fruit into the mix, not a can of fruit cocktail. When the canned fruit cocktail is cooked, all the fruit ends of tasting the same. (OK, sorry for the tangent on fruit cocktail. You can wake up now.)
Here are the bran muffins. I made them in the mini-muffin tin this year and they were much more kid friendly. Click
HERE for the recipe. Anyway, the breakfast was great. Michael and Sarah came over because Isabel was feeling better. We also had the sister missionaries come over. It was so fun to visit with them, plus they were able to talk to their families back home. (Full-time missionaries can only talk to their parents on the phone on Mother's Day and on Christmas Day.) It was fun to see their excitement. Andy and I took a walk down missionary-memory lane as well.
For dinner, we had Andy's family (minus Michael and Sarah. They went to her parent's home for dinner),
Aunt Brenda and her girls, Emile and Brie, and our dear friends, The Christensen's. Ewan and Will had an early start at dinner. Josi and I were actually surprised that they sat there for as long as they did.
Here is the feast! Josi made dinner rolls, a yummy cheeseball, and a delicious cranberry Jell-O salad. (We Utah girls have to have our Jell-O!) I cooked a pre-cooked ham with a
Spiced Honey and Black Pepper Glaze (you know my aversion to touching raw meat), an
apple-sweet potato dish, some
mashed carrots and parsnips, and a
pomegranate and poppy seed salad. (Just click on the names for the recipes.)
Brenda read the kids all a Christmas story before she and the girls left for the night. Left to right, Grace, Harrison, Ewan, and Zane.
While we were at dinner, we also got some exciting news that our good friend
Angie had her baby! After two boys, they now have a baby girl. We are so happy for her and her family. What a wonderful Christmas present to have Serena Noelle enter the world.
The newest addition in our family was a surprise gift from Andy: the mirror at IKEA that I had been wanting for over a year now. He was so sly, he had it hidden at work the whole time. He and his dad left late Christmas Eve night to surprise me with it. It goes PERFECTLY in our dining room.
I get a warm feeling in my heart everytime I walk from the dining room into the kitchen and see all the wonderful Christmas cards from dear friends and family.
