Christmas, 2013

I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and part of Boxing Day down with the Larsens.  They were very kind to put me up for two nights and I really appreciate being able to share in their Christmas festivities.

The thing that stands out the most to me is how ridiculously excited Clara and Henry were leading up to Christmas.  There were multiple times that either one of them just started shaking with anticipation.  That kind of child-like enthusiasm was really neat to see.

On the Eve, I arrived (to excited shouts of "Uncle Jordan!") with fresh baked cinnamon rolls- the recipe I used can be found here.  From there, due to me arriving in the early afternoon, the kids were put down for a nap and I hung out with the grown ups.  After kids were up, we all went to Christmas Mass, which the kids referred to as "Christmas Church" (I went as a way of showing support for Amanda).  When we got home, Ian read to the kids out of Luke 2 as they acted out the story with their plastic nativity.  Soon after that, we watched The Muppet Christmas Carol while we ate dinner (which was antipasto and spicy meatballs - which is awesome - in recognition of Amanda's Italian heritage).  Once the movie was over, the kids got to open up one present each: they got new pajamas that they changed into and then went to bed.  With the kids in bed, Santa "visited."

On Christmas, things started at sunrise, because you can only keep children waiting so long.  Again, their excitement was so palpable that it seemed like every present was their favorite thing ever.  While there was one reminder about needing to be appreciative, overall things went very smoothly.  I also surprised everyone with a crocheted scarf (I can't afford much right now, but I can afford a few skeins of yarn and several hours of my time), which everyone immediately tried on.  Isaac and Felicia also sent me a package that I opened there: it was a very nice memory foam pillow with a fleece pillow case, which was awfully kind of them.  After presents, things wound down a bit.  Later on, after dinner, Ian and I went to see a movie, which I'll post about later.  For now I'll just say that it was fun.

On Boxing Day (which is not celebrated in the US but should be), I left shortly after breakfast.  I did stay long enough to help the kids play a new video game; I didn't jump in at all, I just helped get things set up for each level as their hand-eye coordination is still developing.

A lot of stuff got crammed into just a few days, but it was enjoyable and I'm happy that I got to spend Christmas with family.