Christmas, looking back

Winter break is coming to an end for me and I thought I might take a moment to talk about Christmas. It was good this year. Ian's family didn't celebrate until the week after so there was no struggle to spend time together and with our families.
We went down to James' house for a few days before the 25th to get in lots of family time. First we went to some wine tasting in Walla Walla.


We had the hook up and got to see the whole process. Even got to sit on a wine barrel or two.


We also had dinner with some family friends in Walla Walla. All in all a good way to start celebrating Christmas.
The next day was pretty quiet. Rae got called into work. My little sister and her husband found someone willing to babysit so they could see a movie. A couple of us took a chilly walk with the kids in a futile effort to get rid of some energy. We picked up last minute items and generally waited for Christmas. We also cooked and cleaned all day. It is challenging to feed and house so many people. I can't imagine having a huge family around all the time. We had to do the dishes after every meal or there would be nothing to eat on for the next meal. And we ate so much. So thanks James and Rae for feeding us.
Christmas itself was great. I think crepes are James' favorite meal so that is what we had Christmas morning.


And I helped.


You see, whipped cream is an important part of the crepe experience in this household and making enough for everyone is a boring and time consuming task. But I did not shirk!
Then there were presents. I thought the boys were going to explode if we waited too long. They survived some how and were rewarded. I think they had the biggest haul.


It was mostly their parents fault. These nerf guns were fun and pretty accurate. Ian and I totally had a shoot out. The big gift was a game cube. As it turns out the big kids (sometimes referred to as adults or parents) thought it was pretty fun too. By the end of the day I was sick of it. After the kids went to bed we shut it down and played some board games instead. I love Careers. It is totally dated and sexist and there is a huge element of luck that drives most people crazy. But I like that a long range strategy is almost impossible.
It was a good visit and a good Christmas. Let's do it again next year! Now I'm home and school starts again tomorrow. But I can always look back on my Christmas memories.