Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve was a flurry of activity. I started the day with a 6 am grocery run, and it worked out perfectly. Not only did I beat the rain (we had a 100% chance forecast), but I also beat the feeding frenzy that usually happens the day before holidays at the grocery stores around here. I took a short nap after I got home from the grocery store, and then got in a good run at the gym before they closed at 3. Somewhere in there it started a cold, cold rain outside. We had planned on going to Christmas Eve services at our church, but my younger daughter had a stomach virus that moved south, further along in her GI track that made close proximity to a private bathroom a necessity--poor thing! So we stayed home and made cookies for Santa and watched Polar Express instead. The kids left a plate out on the mantle for Santa with cookies, and a few carrots for his reindeer. After the kids were finally down for the count in their beds, it was darn near 11 pm. My wife and I started wrapping presents at that point, and munching on Santa's cookies so the kids would think he had dropped in, while the rain continued to pour down outside.

Christmas morning dawned clear and windy, and chilly. The kids actually let us sleep until about 8 am, with my younger daughter up first. She came busting into our bedroom, "Santa came! There's presents under the tree!" Then she went sprinting back out into the living room to check on the cookies and stockings, only to come running back into our bedroom. "Santa came! He really, really came!!" She was so excited--completely heartwarming to see her joy. It wasn't long after that that we let her get the other two kids up. Once everyone was assembled in the living room, we read the Christmas story from the Bible, to help keep things in perspective. And then it was present time. As you can see, opening presents is a very serious business around here.

My son received his first wooden train set, which he played with for a good hour after getting it set up--pretty focused for a 2 year old who won't sit through 30 minute TV show.

My younger daughter received Disney Fairy goods--both the Fairies themselves, and their animal sidekicks. She was completely over the moon with them.

My oldest daughter only received a very small package from Santa. But she was OK with that when she discovered it contained a pink iPod Shuffle--her first mp3 player.

The kids got my wife a cute little ring from James Avery, and I got a Kelty internal frame backpack for my trip to the Grand Canyon in a couple weeks.

Once presents were opened, I started in on our Christmas meal. I didn't do much, because it was just our small family this year. Usually I'm cooking for 18-20 with my wife's family who live near us. However, her family was traveling to Wisconsin this year to attend a wedding, and spent Christmas up there instead. It was kind of nice to have our little family all to ourselves this year. I served Earl Campbell sausages (haha!), cornbread stuffing, rosemary potatoes, tropical & citrus fruit salad, and green romaine salad. We had sweet potato pie for dessert.

After lunch, I helped my daughter sync her iPod, and then helped my wife create a new workout playlist. Then it was time to get the kids down for naps, and my wife rested a little bit since she was going to work. She was scheduled to work Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, but their census was low enough that she got canceled for Christmas Eve, and split a shift for Christmas Day night. It was really nice having the whole family together for the holiday.

What did you do? What did Santa bring you?