Merry Christmas, everyone! We just wrapped up a lovely Christmas weekend, and we managed to celebrate with all four of our grandparents (as well as a pair of uncles). I’m very happy that in spite of the pandemic, we were able to be with the whole family this holiday.
Things kicked off with a busy Christmas Eve. First, we fired up NORAD on the Raspberry Pi to watch Santa’s progress throughout the day. I spent half a day at work (where someone brought donuts for those who showed up) and then spent an afternoon busy wrapping presents as Aaron built a gingerbread house and Vivian made roasted vegetables for our Christmas Eve dinner. Then at dinnertime, we headed over to Vivian’s parents’ house, which was decorated with lights outside and a Christmas village inside for Christmas Eve. We had a dinner of roast beef, Taber salad, and sweet potatoes, all washed down with Martinelli’s.
Afterward, we opened our stockings, which had such gifts as animal masks, a hair wrap for mommy. toys for the kids, and sushi socks for me. We had some pumpkin pie for dessert before the kids changed into the Christmas jammies (an annual tradition) before we headed home. After the kids were all snug in their beds, I got a few snapshots of our tree and the lights glowing outside, which is always a beautiful thing to see at the end of Christmas Eve.
The kids were naturally up bright and early Christmas morning to start opening presents. Hannah got a plush Raboot, and Aaron got a Metaknight and Waddle Dee. They also had lots of Legos, which they immediately opened up and started to build with. Aaron also had a hand print towel that he made up in Kindergarten, and both kids had snow globes for us, which they made together in Sunday School.
Around mid-morning, I made up my traditional Christmas quiche for breakfast, as well as a batch of eggnog pancakes for the kids. It was a fun, lazy day otherwise, and in the afternoon, we watched A Christmas Story and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer together in the living room.
That evening, we headed over to my parents’ house for some more gift-opening with them and my brothers. Hannah got some more Pokémon toys and a fossil-digging kit from National Geographic, Aaron got a new digital camera, and Vivian got a Pioneer Woman cookbook. I got my dad a copy of Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning along with a photo calendar of the kids and a book for my mom.
For Christmas dinner, my mom had chips and sandwiches, along with some olives and sweet pickles. It was simple, but it seemed to work. We also had a hot Crock-Pot full of wassail, which was particularly warm for Christmasy. We headed home not long afterward, stopping by to see a Grinch stealing some Christmas lights before returning home to watch The Nativity Story before bed.
Our Christmas Day was so full of gifts and visiting tat we forgot to have the kids open their actual stockings in our basement, which were mostly filled with candy and little toys (such as scented Play-Doh). It was also warm enough for a walk around the block with a few of their plush toys before the sun went down.
In many ways, I was very happy with how “normal” this Christmas was — being able to visit all the members of our family on a holiday like this is something I’ve learned to appreciate, especially after a year like this one.