The Christmas we had

We had a great 4 day Holiday celebration.  My family celebrates on Christmas Eve; we started at my Aunt and Uncle’s house with appetizers before heading to church for a candlelight service. Dinner followed back at my Aunt’s and it was amazing. I wish I had the photos to show you! We had a delicious seafood Cioppino with crusted focaccia bread and a fruit and gorgonzola spinach salad. The soup was for me the best Christmas meal I’ve ever had, with huge chunks of halibut, scallops, crab leg, clams and shrimp in a savory tomato based broth. I made it clear to everyone that I hope we can make this the new traditional Christmas Eve dinner in our family. After letting the food settle we all played the dice-game gift exchange and Peter and I collectively ended up with a 2 layer pie/cake tray and a lotion set.

Christmas morning at my parents was great. My sister and I unbeknownst to one another showed up for breakfast in the same flannel nighty but in different colors, “great minds think comfort!”  We were treated to Swedish pancakes, sausage, ham, delicious bran muffins and mimosas. After breakfast we sat around the living room and went through our stockings. Santa leaves gifts for my sister and I in what were at one time my Grandpa’s thick green wool hunting socks. They have special meaning to us because my Dad and Aunt used them growing up as well. They were the best stocking a kid could wish for, the more you put in them the more they stretched out, leaving room for more and more treats.

My mom loved the photo album we made for her which was a timeline of our wedding day in August. She put so much work in helping us make the day unforgettable that we wanted to give her something to remember it by as well. My dad got a new pair of moccasins, (he can finally throw out the pair where his toe has been sticking out the side for the last 2 years.)  For my sister we gave an assortment of fun things, a red bath robe, photo postcards by Elle Moss, a red lunch bag, and a vintage rose ring from Etsy.

My sister and parents went in on a really cool gift for us; a home-brew starter kit with all the ingredients to make a Blonde Ale! We are pretty excited to give it a try this winter and start making our own beer. We’re thinking of calling it “Meat & Moo Brew”. (That’s what some of the little ones in our life call us when they can’t quite say Pete & Mo.)

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas with family and friends!