Sleigh Bells Rung

Well, the whirlwind associated with Christmas has come and gone for another year. Our family enjoyed the company of my best friend, Jim Jardine and his family, Jessica and Billy this year in our home. Jim and I usually try to see each other once to twice a year, with us coming over to Pittsburgh or them coming over to see us. They came out earlier this year for my birthday weekend in March, and we took the boys with our family to see them over Memorial Day weekend. We were trying to find a time where we could visit again this year, and I invited them to spend Christmas with us, since Mom was going out of town, and Nancy as well. Since we weren't sure if the boys were still going to be with us or not, we decided not to make the trip down to Virginia to spend with the remaining family down there (Sorry Thad and Andrew, et al). They agreed to spend the majority of the week with us, since I was on vacation that week from the "salt mines".

They arrived Sunday to a steaming dish of lasagna for dinner, and we spent the night just chilling out, talking and visiting with each other. Monday was spent with me in the kitchen getting the dinner ready, with Rachel, Jim and Jess, ready to help at a moments notice. It ended up working out well, except for the mashed potatoes. I freakin' started them too early, so they sat in the strainer while I got other dishes cooked, until Rachel went to make them and they were GLUE. That just blows. Thank goodness Mom sent up potato pearls, so we had to fake that part of the dinner, but it was that or serve glue. We used the Safeway 2-hour turkey recipe again, and the turkey, again turned out fabulous. We invited John and Kim Wright, from church, over for the meal since they are quickly becoming good friends of ours. Dinner went off without a hitch, and Allison helped me make cookies for Santa. Next time, I'm using less peppermint chips in the recipe, since the oil made my eyes water each time I removed a batch from the oven. With the kids in bed, and the adults soon after, we all settle down for a long winter's nap.

Christmas morning, for the first time in years, I slept until 8:30 AM. The girls were still asleep, and we didn't have older kids anxiously biting their lips in anticipation of presents. I'm sure that's coming in the next few years, though. The girls came downstairs, along with Billy, to the joy of Santa's visit in the form of presents. We exchanged gifts with the Jardine's, and just basked in the warmth of family and being together. I received a few text messages from a dear friend at work (that's you Kirsten *wink wink*) while making pancakes for breakfast, wishing me and the family well. We played with all our presents the rest of the day, until the smell of Rachel's traditional Christmas dinner of steaks and baked potatoes wafted through the evening air. It was a good day, in large part because of the company it was spent with. Throughout the day, phone calls were made and received from family, which made the day seem complete. Thank you to all who called, or wished us well through emails and text messages. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.