Christmas Report

We had a cozy Christmas. Here are a few highlights and photos:

FAMILY
James's Aunt Connie invited us to her family Christmas party. Connie is Tom's oldest sister, and she is the only extended family member to come to our wedding (she also lived the closest, in Paris, Idaho). We reconnected with her a couple years ago when we were invited to her 80th birthday party. Her husband was in the Air Force, so somehow most of her kids and grandkids settled in Utah near Hill AFB. When her health started failing, she came to live with her daughter Mary. We had no idea they all lived so close.

Atticus always looks forward to hanging out with Max at these gatherings. Max is Atticus's second cousin once removed. Max's grandfather is James's cousin. To make sense of the relationship,  I had to put it in Poulson terms: it's the same as if Mike's daughter Aubrey and her kids were invited to the Langston family party. The age gap between Aubrey and Tyler is about the same as the difference between James and Max's grandpa. Kinda blows my mind, but to Atticus, he's just a kid to play with.

Speaking of Mike and Aubrey, we spent Christmas Eve with their family. Of course I didn't take any pictures, but I did get a picture of the bûche de Noël I made:

It's grain free and low carb, from this recipe (I didn't add the coffee and orange flavoring). I thought it was pretty good, but James deemed it "passable." Henry (who's diabetic) said it tasted "too healthy" and went for the peppermint brownies I brought instead. The chocolate ganache was pretty dark, which made it less appealing to kids. Hence the brownies.

We had a great time. My sister Erin was also there, which always is a treat. Dinner was delicious, and I brought some "minute to win it" games to play after dinner while Mike and Raylyn cleaned up. We did the Oreo-on-your-face one, the "draw a picture on your head" one, and the "knock down the cans with the ornament tied to your butt" one. Afterward we watched a video Raylyn used at a Relief Society gathering that compares Jacob Marley's chains to the chains we all carry in life and how Christ offers us freedom from those chains. Atticus freaked out about Marley's ghost, but we survived. Mike read the Christmas story from Luke, and we all got to write down our gift for Jesus this year. They keep all the cards in a box so they can reminisce about past years and see how they did. I'm totally borrowing that tradition for next year. Then we exchanged gifts, gave hugs, and headed home.

CHRISTMAS DAY

It was raining, maybe just barely snowing, when we got home, and when we woke up Christmas morning, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a beautiful blanket of snow.

I couldn't stop looking. It was beautiful and quiet and so peaceful. 

A neighbor ran his snowblower down the sidewalk for most of the block, 

for which we were very grateful.

It's not Christmas without Legos and a puzzle. The kitty is Pookie, and it was the runaway hit of the year. The Boy's a bit obsessed with cats these days. It was something he didn't ask for but that I knew he'd love. I even made a bed and blankie for her. James also surprised him with a cat calendar that happened to come with a mini kitten calendar. Total WIN.

After presents and breakfast, James and Atticus attacked the snow.

We got a record 9 inches. The accumulation on our driveway was deeper than that. James swears it was two feet, but that might be a bit of an exaggeration based on what it felt like he was moving.

 James is wearing his Chthulu/barbarian balaclava I got him for Christmas. 

Atticus is rocking that snow angel.

This is a happy boy.

I came out for a while to keep them company, and we got talking with our neighbor Joe, who was also digging himself out. It was a fun way to celebrate. I came inside to make cocoa and rub garlic and herbs over our dinner roast. After everyone came in and got warm and cleaned up, we went to church. It was a beautiful addition to our Christmas celebrations. It helped that church started at 1:00, so it hit right at the time that we would normally get restless and bored. Came home to a nice dinner, Skyped with family, then settled in for our Lord of the Rings marathon.

I couldn't have asked for more.