A Christmas Celebration

  As the song states, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” Every year I look forward to the Christmas get together with all my adult children, their spouses and their children. This year all eleven adults and six of my grandchildren were present to celebrate with me. John and Georgette and Nora and Hannah came on Saturday, Dec. 23, to sleep over because they had to be home Christmas Eve night to wait for Santa and their early morning trip to California to visit Georgette’s family. Tom and Marissa came with Ari and joined in the family fun. Nora convinced her cousin, Ari, eight, to stay for a sleepover.

Uncle Mike stayed up late to make some delicious monkey bread for breakfast the next morning. I made the beef tips for dinner so we could just heat them up the next night. Unexpectedly, Nora came down after midnight saying she wasn’t tired. Uncle Mike put the movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on for her to watch. Finally, around 3:00 AM, Nora came upstairs and jumped in bed with me. In the morning we had the monkey bread and made pancakes for breakfast.

During Christmas Eve day, we made Oreos houses to decorate and the grandchildren helped stamp out gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies. Some of the sprinkles actually made it on the cookies! They had fun throwing fake snowballs at one another and at Uncle Mike, Uncle Steve and Elisabeth and playing with other toys. 

Elisabeth made a delicious and artful Christmas tree charcuterie board that everyone enjoyed before dinner. For Christmas Eve dinner we had mashed potatoes, beef tips, sweet potatoes and breaded chicken cutlets.  After dinner, we went to the living room where the grandchildren enjoyed opening their presents from Mom Mom and their Aunts and Uncles. There was a flurry of activity as they ripped open the packages and the excitement was contagious. 

Aunt Katie bought a karaoke machine and the grandkids spent at least an hour singing on the two microphones that came with it. The older girls were able to read the lyrics that Uncle Mike displayed on his projector. It was the highlight of the night!

Tom, Marissa and Ari slept over Christmas Eve as well as Stephen and Elisabeth. Ari was excited to see Santa had visited and dropped off her presents under the Christmas tree. Stephen, Elisabeth and Marissa styled their own pancakes that morning, Stephen made Santa, Elisabeth made a reindeer and Marissa made a bell. Tom and Mike and Ari had the usual pancakes with sprinkles.

After 12 PM Mass and lunch, Mike, Stephen and Elisabeth went to play tennis and pickleball with the new racquets Tom had given them at a local school. When they returned, they told me that Elisabeth had beat them at tennis. Later, Tom, came back with Harvey his Yorkie who will be staying with us while Tom and Marissa and Cami go to New York to visit her parents. Harvey met Teddy, Elisabeth’s dog, and they got along well. We watched the Eagles beat the Giants and that was the perfect ending to an exciting weekend!