Christmastime

The gifts are all opened, the brunch has been eaten, most of the dishes are done, and everyone is either napping or else doing something quiet. So it's a perfect time for me to come on over to my computer and put up some pictures from our last 24 hours or so of Christmas. Mary started everything yesterday morning by making Christmas Eve cinnamon pancakes.

Yesterday was Troy's birthday so we had a birthday dinner of a tofu stir fry and, of course, birthday cake. Mary made her a layer cake with lavender frosting.

John poured the Witty Femme before dinner. Peter got every beer drinker's dream, a pour straight into his mouth. (Not really.) With our slightly spicy meal, the beer was fantastic.

After dinner Troy opened her gifts.

Before Christmas Eve Mass we took a family selfie.

When the kids opened their stockings, John pulled a Starbucks card out of his. I was surprised because "Santa" didn't get anyone a Starbucks gift card this year . . . . . but he did last year. So clearly, John had left his Starbucks gift card from last year in his stocking. It was a hilarious way to start off the presents, as Brad and Troy demonstrate.

We try to do sustainable gift wrapping, with almost all of our wrapping and gift tags coming from reused materials, which usually means newspaper and reused Christmas wrap. Over the years there have been some creative solutions that have been devised. For example, every year Peter makes his own gift cards, which always come with a drawing he makes and a thoughtful message to the recipient. For the first time this year, John and Troy used this idea for a gift wrap for me and Brad. Liking crosswords as we do, it was especially appropriate!

Peter got a somewhat weighty gift wrapped in a reused velvet bag. He decided it looked and felt like a baby, so before he opened it he rocked it for awhile. That's our Peter.

 Some gifts need an explanation for a blog post. This is a Christmas quilt.

 And then there are other gifts that need absolutely no explanation whatsoever.

Mary had a toasty seat in front of the fireplace. She and Troy each got a scarf, a gift that long ago became a Christmas standard.

Before brunch we took a group picture in our Christmas pajamas. When I finish writing this post I think I'll join the napping crew, because there's more Christmas cheer on its way today. We already have tickets for the beginning of the Harrison Movie Marathon. Tonight we'll see The Imitation Game - a unanimous choice! More on that in my next post!