December Daily: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

What a happy holiday season this has been. I have worked really hard on being in the moment and not getting to caught up in all the crap of the season. For the most part it worked.
Christmas Eve morning we battled through the blizzard and made it to our bell ringing post at Wal-Mart just a few minutes late. We had fun singing carols and ringing the bell for about 50 minutes. We had several people thank us for spreading Christmas cheer and one woman gave me a hug. The rest of the day was spent preparing for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas the next day. I made my prom cake early in the day so I wouldn't have to do it after dinner. My dad hung out with us and helped me cook. It was nice. It was a relaxing day filled with Christmas music, visiting, nibbling and putzing. It was perfect. Christmas Eve dinner is always meat fondue at my house. I love that I don't have to do much prep ahead of time. We serve three sauces for the meat, a warm mushroom sauce, a cold "hot & spicy" sauce and a creamy horseradish sauce. Also on the menu are baked potatoes, a green salad, tapioca pudding salad, asparagus and rolls. Simple and yummy. After dinner and clean up we watched the kids present their annual nativity play. I love it every year! It is one of my very favorite traditions! Presents were next, followed by treats and visiting. Derek and I took a break after everyone left. We watched Christmas Vacation while we waited for all of the girls to get to sleep.
That evening I remembered several traditions that we didn't make happen this year. I started to beat myself up and quickly spiral into the "I've ruined everything" pit of despair. Then I got a grip and carried on. Don't you wish you were here for that fun moment?
Christmas day was one of the best yet. We opened presents early, had a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls and clementines. Then we headed downstairs to play sports resort together and then we watched Up. After dad's nap the movie was over we bundled up and headed outside for Derek to snow blow and the girls and I worked on snowman building. This was my first time ever to build a snowman all by myself. It was awesome. After a rousing snowball fight we headed indoors to warm up. After Christmas day phone calls and a bit of this and that we headed over to Salena's for Christmas dinner lasagna, prom cake for dessert and an evening of fun and games. To end the evening we played May I. This is a card game played in our family for generations. We have been told that it is similar to Shanghai. It is a long game with many rounds. Miranda has been waiting for years to get in on the May I action. We told her years ago that she had to be 12. So of course this whole year she has tried to get us to play. This was actually our first time this year. So Miranda played. And she complained, tried to change the rules and couldn't believe how long a game lasts had so much fun. Mostly because in the end? SHE WON! Her first time. With possibly a little bit of cheating just a little help from Grandpa Lloyd. I don't know about Steven and Derek everyone else, but I had a great time. It was a very Merry Christmas indeed. Thanks for coming along for the ride. It's been a good one.