My family doesn't care what anybody says: Steak and Lobster is the only way to celebrate the eve before Christ's birth. I don't know when this type of gluttony became a tradition for us, but my kids think about it, talk about it, dream about it all.year.long! It is a good think that we had a couple of John's siblings and their families here for dinner because Grandpa brought more seafood with him than you can imagine! It was an absolute feast! Think: french onion soup, the obligatory shrimp cocktail, hearth side bread, potatoes, carrots, steak and mushroom sauce, Lobster and mussels with a butterscotch layered dessert to top it all off. I literally felt like I had eaten so much, I was going to have to roll around the house from that point on!
Eating that much food is simultaneously gross - and delicious!
Things I loved about this particular Christmas Eve dinner:
*Prior to cooking up the Lobster, Jess made sure they all received a name. Jess' was "Tiny Tim" and I think my nephew Maddax may have named one of them "Sebastien."
* Due to the cold, our Barbecue wouldn't light, so dinner was delayed as John took the meat over to Grandpa's house to cook the steak. As inconvenient as this may have seemed to some, it was a drastic improvement from last year when our BBQ actually caught fire! (Though Grilled cheese sandwiches and Lobster was not bad either;)
* Going through all of the work of a big meal feels much much more worth it when family is around to enjoy it with you.
I always marvel at how kids are able to be friends and re-connect in moments - even if they haven't seen each other in half a year! My four were delighted to have Caleb, Malachi, Maddax, Savanna and the very new Vivian, to play with. Kahoot, Things in a Box and Exploding Kittens were especially fun games to pay this year!
Our annual tradition of new Jammies on Christmas Eve was a success. (As in, for the first time ever, every bodies Jammies actually fit, which is all that mattered to me!;)
As soon as Nate was dressed for bed he was asking when he'd be allowed to go to sleep.
Seriously, when else would that happen?!
Every year we tape up a wrapping paper barricade (a tradition we stole from Jewel and Kendall's family) for the kids to crash through as they run to their stockings. This year we had to get a little bit creative and ended up putting it at the top of the stairs. It was a little touch and go there for a second with 5 kids racing down the stairs Christmas morning.
Of course, Santa was way too good to our family this year. Within a few short minutes the basement floor was covered in boxes, torn paper, opened packages and unwanted mandarin oranges. There is a lot of beauty in a mess like that, if you ask me. I let it linger a lot longer than I normally would have;)
By noon on Christmas Day, all of our family had gone and we were left to bask in the awesomeness of a fun 24 hours. We spent the day resting, playing with gifts and eating - way more than should be humanly possible.
I worry this may be a hard routine to break free of.
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