Christmas 2023

 

Christmas was fabulous this year. 

Some of our traditions were a little different than in years past. This year instead of sleeping over on Christmas Adam, Skylee, Anna, and Kristin came over for a fun late night together. We made orange rolls, churned ice cream (for Christmas Alison and I made two flavors of Salt & Straw ice cream - Gingerbread Cookie Dough and Fennel Five-Spice Egg Nog), ate Moose Munch, and watched the Illumination version of The Grinch. It was a fun night. 

On Christmas Eve morning Alison and I attended church with Kristin and fam. Skylee and Anna sang with the primary and then later in the Christmas program Skylee sang a duet with another girl in the ward. Skylee is very talented and loves to share her talent. 

After church, we headed to Kristin's house where we FaceTimed Bret and Calvin for a gift exchange. We opened the gifts they sent and they opened our gifts to them. Even though we are far apart, it was great to spend a little bit of the holiday together. While Bret and Calvin were on the line Blake and Debbie shared their annual legacy gift. This year Debbie led the legacy gift and highlighted her grandfather - Ernest Ivan Alder. She shared some memories of her grandfather and emphasized that he was a kind, happy, and joyful man. She then gave each of her children a vintage Changeable Charlie game. This is a game made of changeable wooden blocks with various portions of faces painted on them. Some of the older kids remembered playing with the Changeable Charlie game that was in Ivan's attic. It was a really nice gift. 

Alison and I headed home to finish making orange rolls for Christmas morning. We had three containers of rolls - one for Alison, Kristin, and me, one for Skylee and Anna, and one for Blake, Debbie, and Aleene. Alsion wanted to make sure everyone had something to eat when they woke up on Christmas morning. We also watched Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas which really got us into the Christmas spirit. 

Then we went to Kristin's house and we went with her to drop off her girls at their dad's house on our way downtown. This was the first year we didn't have the girls with us since they were born so we didn't want to do our regular traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Instead, we went to dinner at PF Changs with Blake, Debbie, and Aleene. It was fine. We had a good dinner and enjoyed each other's company. 

After dinner, we all went back to Kristin's house to play Santa Claus. She had a lot of stuff for her girls, but the biggest thing was a platform loft bed that she got for Skylee. Blake and I got that all set up and the stage was set for the girls to have a phenomenal Christmas. Kristin came and stayed in our guest bedroom on Christmas Eve - we were thrilled to host her. We opened up one present on Christmas Eve. Alison, Tex, and I all received matching sweaters to wear on Christmas. 

We woke up on Christmas morning and Kristin went to have breakfast with her girls. Meanwhile, Blake, Debbie, and Aleene came over to our house for a traditional Aebleskiver and breakfast casserole breakfast. It took us a minute to figure out our new Aebleskiver pans, but once we got the hang of it they were great. Alison and I also opened our gifts to each other. We kept it small this year - I gave Alison a signed copy of The Winners by Fredrik Backman. She gave me a Captain America Lego set and Narwhal socks. 

After breakfast, Alison and I headed over to my grandparent's house for their Christmas party. We saw some of my aunts and uncles and quite a few of my cousins there. I am always grateful for the time I get to spend with my grandparents on Christmas. 

After that, we dashed over to Blake and Debbie's house for a traditional Christmas dinner with prime rib and all the sides. Skylee was thrilled because Blake let her cut the prime rib. She kept saying, "Skylee herself cut the roast beef." We also played reindeer games, opened presents, sang Christmas songs, and had a jolly good time. 

All in all, it was an excellent Christmas. We had good food and good company and couldn't have asked for anything more.