Christmas Day

Christmas Eve was busy, but Craig had everything planned out perfectly.  He'd already brined the turkey the day before, and then got as much prep work done on it as he could.  And then he went to work on pies.  He made a pumpkin pie, a chocolate caramel pecan pie, and an apple crumble.  His Mom helped him the entire time, either reading the recipe off the computer or doing dishes along the way.  And his Dad and Tracy played with the kids and kept them happy.

I wrapped up stuff that still hadn't been wrapped, including my Mom's present to Craig, a 10 x 10 pop-up shade for camping.  I needed Tracy's help for that one-- it was a bit heavy for me to lift by myself.  Because I was worried about Craig guessing it by its shape and size (and mass), I hid it in our downstairs shower and then sent Craig on a treasure hunt to find it.  He's done that to me before, so he had it coming!

The day flew by and eventually it was time for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of take-out pizza.  This is one of my favorite traditions ever-- we eat off paper plates and keep everything as simple as possible.  My Grandma Bentley started this years ago and we just love it, since we never have time for a big meal with everything else going on, and pizza makes everybody happy!

After pizza, the kids took baths and we had our Christmas program.  We were especially lucky this year to have Tracy with us, since she plays piano.  She played any Christmas carol that was requested and we all sang along.  Then we passed around scriptures and read Luke 2, and finally the kids got to open a present from my parents-- matching pajamas for them all to wear that night (they still haven't caught on that we do this every year-- maybe next year they'll figure it out?).  We took pictures, put out eggnog and cookies for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer), and sent them to bed!  And they were in bed right at 7pm and went to sleep almost immediately!  What a successful day!

As soon as the kids were in bed, we went to work putting out all the presents from Grandma and Grandpa that had stayed safely stashed in their car.  And Craig arranged them nicely so most of the tags were visible, too.  The cookies were eaten and the carrots nibbled down.  And then we went to bed!  No-- just kidding.  Then Craig made orange rolls for the next day's breakfast and we all hung out talking until I was about to fall asleep on the floor.  THEN we went to bed.

I'll admit, I didn't sleep well.  I get excited about Christmas, too, and once I had to get up at 6am to use the bathroom, I was wide awake.  So I didn't mind a bit when the kids woke up at 6:45.  We let them head downstairs and see the glow of the lights on all the presents and then with a quick reminder about taking turns and letting everyone see what you'd been given, we let them dig in...

So excited!  (Colton slept a bit later and missed the grand beginning.  I don't think he minded, though.)

Rejoicing over a present she really wanted (a little ballerina necklace from her dance school)

Cute Ryder modeling his new zipper tie (can you see it?  It sort of blends in with his pajamas...)

Ryder and Tracy sitting together

This present looked just like a top hat!

Bentley excited for his cool new car

Ryder excited to join the Wild Kratts Team

Colton eventually joined us, but he wasn't very interested in opening presents-- just in playing with things after they'd been opened!

I'm such a glamor queen!  Here I am "modeling" a new outfit for the baby.  Look-- no spit up stains (yet)!

Colton received this minion from one of his siblings and LOVED it

It took all the kids to open this elaborately wrapped present from Craig...

Bentley begins studying his new Minecraft book right away

Eventually we took a breakfast break and enjoyed Craig's orange rolls and Craig got the turkey in the oven while I made a ham in the crock pot. Then it was back to presents. Craig and his Mom did almost ALL of the work for dinner: Craig made the gravy, yams, mashed potatoes and turkey while his Mom, once again, cleaned up behind him and also made broccoli bake and carrots. They also set the table beautifully.  My meager contribution was just the ham and arranging store-bought dinner rolls in a bowl to look nice. (Usually I make them, but we decided our kitchen wasn't quite big enough and I didn't have the energy, so those got scrapped this year.  Some day I'll get back to actually making rolls on holidays!)  Craig and his mom were working so hard in the kitchen that Tracy and I were able to take some of the kids to the park for a bit to enjoy the nice weather!

As the day drew to its close, Craig and I marveled at how good our kids had been all day.  Certainly Christmas can bring on the meltdowns like few holidays can, so it was nice to realize that they'd gotten along really well, been grateful and gracious in their giving and receiving, and just been a pleasure to be with all day.

This may have been our most successful Christmas yet!