Christmas 2024

Operation “Under Wrap” started Monday morning. Everett has named the day before Christmas Eve as Christmas Adam. Justin was given a specific mission to take the hooligans and entertain them for 6 hours. He fulfilled his mission! I hear they went on a covert shopping trip to Target for matching Rubbermaid storage containers, my hearts fondest wish this Christmas. He tired of the kids bickering over where to enjoy lunch so used his adult card to make a solo decision and take them to Cup Bop. The kids whined until tasting the food and are now fans of Korean food (which we already knew). They went to Sheels for bullets and general Christmas madness. Then off to the mall because the pants I got for Mia would fit Justin and half of me, needed a swift exchange of sizes or new pants asap. Phillip and Everett took charge of the girls so Amelia and Justin could finish covert shopping operations. My first task was to drag the entire pile of loot from my closet to my now clean bedroom and sort it all. Then on to wrapping. I wrapped special stuff and Amelia’s pile first. Once the crew returned home Amelia helped me wrap, then the girls helped me wrap Everett’s stuff. I wrapped the last item at 1:30 am…in the closet. That was a loooong day. I wanted to have Christmas Eve open for all the fun celebrations with my family. Unfortunately, I checked Amazon for some missing items only to find one had broken during deliver and was returned to sender and a very important item was not yet shipped. I was SOL for the important item. 

Christmas Eve was a lovely day. I spent the morning baking cherry-white chocolate shortbread cookies and our favorite soft gingerbread cookies. Everett helped me make peanut brittle. Justin ordered a fancy jar of “real” maraschino cherries to make an extra special batch of cherry cookies.  We watched “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” a movie I rented for a $1 as entertainment. The Nelves dropped off some sweet treats AND two Christmas Legos. Phillip assembled Santa’s sleigh and reindeer Lego for us. Everett had a bee in his bonnet to make a layered Jell-o dessert, he made it even when I told him it was not a good idea with all the treats already in production. He was not very focused and made several layers with too much water in the jell-o so it never set. Now I have a jell-o mess sitting in the fridge. Amelia and I went on an emergency shopping trip to Walmart in search of a replacement for the cancelled Amazon order. That was stressful. Josie did not get her Santa letter written until the 16th, she waffled back and forth for weeks, agonizing over what to pick. She wanted opera glasses (seriously?!), a green diary, a pop-it game, an Elf on the Shelf reindeer, a Bluey yes-no button, and on an on. Josie finally settled on opera glasses and the pop-it game as Santa gifts. I noticed Rainbow High outfits were available, I got several outfits for the dolls Evelyn already has. We rushed home to finish baking cookies. I put the cookies outside to cool then went upstairs to wrap the last minute gifts. It rained. My poor perfectly baked gingerbread cookies melted into goo. Nooooo! There was no saving the cookies.

Justin fried up bacon for clam chowder. The kids set the table and wrapped bread bowls in foil. The mood was set! I whipped up the rest of the clam chowder to the dulcet sounds of arguing over how many sourdough vs French bread bowls to wrap up. The Ostlers came over around 6 pm with Dusty’s brother David along for the celebration. Sara made chicken noodle soup for the heathens (aka Carson, Josie, and Evelyn). We had a candle-light meal with a fake fire flickering on our TV screen. Evelyn was in charge of costumes and character assignments for the Nativity play. She had everyone in costume and ready to go. I was narrator this year. Josie was the star..and angel. Evelyn, Oliver, and baby Gabby as Jesus and the Holy Family. Phillip was a camel. Everett and Logan the shepherds with dogs as sheep. Sara was a donkey. Amelia, Justin, and Dustin as Wise(wo)man. We sang some Christmas hymns after a chaotic reenactment. It was time to clean up dinner and get ready for some Nelves to come! The girls helped me decorate cookies for the Santa plate. Santa cookies must have at least an inch of sprinkles on top of the frosting. Evelyn made a to-go bag of cookies for Santa and an extra bag for Mrs Claus. She’s so thoughtful! The Nelves made quite a racket on the front door and left a fancy bag of treats and PJ gifts. The dogs even got Christmas outfits! Wrapping paper flew around the room as each child opened their new PJs. Oh my goodness, the little girls candy cane PJs were so soft and comfy. Everett got two pairs of PJ pants and 6 new t-shirts, of course he had to wear both pants at the same time, on leg each. Phillip’s outfit was also really soft and comfortable. Amelia was thrilled to get Kiki’s Delivery Service cat fluffy pants. So cute. The girls were so hyped up and tired all at the same time. They asked me to help them fall asleep, so I laid on their floor for the first time in 3 months! I do not miss that very much. I ended up falling asleep on the floor. My helpers schlepped all the gifts downstairs. We got the tree ready for Santa to visit! It was another really late night for me, so late I think I heard Santa come around 2 am. 

Groggy eyes opened at the early 6:45 hour! Amelia was the culprit! She laid awake for another hour before waking everyone else up. I love stocking time. Josie found the Elf Reindeer next to her stocking. She was so excited. My favorite stocking gift was Everett’s tiny trombone, it plays whomp, whomp, whomp, whoooooomp. I went downstairs to get the Christmas mood set before letting the kids come down. That is always a magical experience, watching their expressions as they take in the Christmas mood. Josie found a letter from Santa on her pile. Apparently, the Nelf that got her letter had candy cane and hot cocoa hands, he smeared her letter so badly Santa and Ffej could not read her request. Santa guessed about the reindeer and the pop-it toy. The ruined part of the letter turned out to be the opera glasses. He brought her a real pair of binoculars until Ffej made the opera glasses. Josie would get a special delivery once it was made. Santa also left Josie a set of Ewok doorables…with a chief Chirrupa. Evelyn’s Santa delivery was a ukulele Lego and TWO tiny baking sets, a sweet version and a food truck version. She also got a tiny set of real knives. Everett got a magic trick set and Act One of Spintronics. Phillip requested bagels for the family AND a Hogwarts Lego. Amelia squealed over her cute tiny fridge for her dorm room one day. It was stuffed with Korean drinks and a couple snacks. Everett played with his Turning marble computer and the spintronics most of the day. It is a really fun toy with a story that goes along with 50+ build versions. Phillip also got two beat making machines and drum stuff. His favorite gift was an Animal flat cap. I thrifted one when he was 3 years old and got rid of it several years ago, he pined for the cap once he seriously started playing drums. Thanks to eBay for having one adult-sized Animal flat cap. Amelia got a very fancy flat iron to make her bangs curl the right way. Evelyn got an art projector with lots of cool cartridges, paper, and markers. She also loves her sling bag filled with bath and body stuff. Josie scored several sets of Schleich horse stuff, barn, and corrals. She is loving horses lately. Little weirdo wanted a jack-in-the box, I found a Harry Potter one. The find of the year was a working “yes-no” button from her favorite Bluey episode. It’s magical. Josie decided to name her reindeer Paris Candy Call. She spent quite a few minutes learning to write that her name in cursive. Amelia and I enjoyed stuffing a foot bath with lots of spa splurges like face masks, under eye smoothers, lotions, bath salts, lotions, jade face roller, and head bands. We CANNOT wait for a spa day. Josie gave me a gift certificate with her wish: “I make a spa for (heart) you (heart). Melt me. Justin surprised me with a pair of Doc Marten boots. I was NOT expecting that at all. He exchanged the boots for Mary Janes at my request. I finally have real Mary Janes after 25 years of pining. We basked in the wrapping paper for the rest of the day. We snarfed down bagels and fancy cream cheeses for breakfast. I took a nap. Once again I napped for about 45 minutes, I looked at my watch and told myself just nap for 10 more minutes until 9:30 am. That 10 minutes stretched until 1 pm. Yikes. I felt bad about missing the relishing of gifts once again. I made a meringue shell and set it to bake for an hour before we headed over to the Ostlers. 

Dusty and Sara hosted their traditional fondue dinner on Christmas this year. It did make for a more exciting day. We fried fresh steak in hot oil and dipped the meat in sour cream mixed with herbs to Provence. Delicious. Dusty opened a jar of sweet pickled jalapeños, that mixed with the meat was divine. After dinner we cleaned up then had our gift exchange. I was excited to give Sara an extra gift or two. I got her an under-mounted can opener she asked for last Christmas and her birthday but did not get. Dusty got her a new can opener for Christmas…but not an under-mounted one. I had to give her a pair of dog feet socks just for kicks and giggles. We enjoyed revealing our secret Santa person and opening more gifts at the end of the day. So fun. I got a lava lamp! Amelia got a hair dryer, good one Phillip! For dessert Sara had two cream pies and I made an Australian Pavlova. Everyone was curious what Pavlova tasted like ever since that one Bluey episode. I filled the meringue shell with fresh whipped cream and berries. It was on the sweet side, crunchy, mushy, and tart all at the same time. Interesting. The Pavlova did not last very long. Demolished. We finished Christmas Day with our last 25 Days of Christ devotional talking about Christ’s resurrection and imminent second coming. We listened to a few favorite Christmas songs like Gentri’s O Holy Night. 

Thursday was quite relaxing. We stayed in PJs all day. We sort of cleaned up the paper and boxes. Evelyn was anxious to make tiny pizzas using her cute tiny baking sets. She loves the tiny measuring spoons and the real tiny knives…oh and the tiny finger oven mitts. It’s really quite cute. Justin decided it was the day to groom Fergus. He got the older kids involved in bathing the dog then attempting to cut his hair. I ended up taking over after an hour just to get it done and even. Fergus was tired after standing for an hour. He looked decent after our crude attempts at dog grooming. Maisie stayed outside throwing us the side-eye every other minute. She was afraid her turn was next. Ms Gingerich came over for our first Call Spa adventure. Phillip covered the sliding doors with blankets to filter the light. Amelia and the girls arranged all our spa items on a table and got the foot baths ready for feet. Once again the instant boiling pot was magical, kept the water nice and hot. Josie massaged my feet with sugar scrub and lotion. We applied under-eye masks, then facial masks, got pedicures, and even massages. Soothing spa music and a candle finished off the spa effect. Everett was sighing with gusto, he was totally vibing with the spa treatment. I opened up the last precious Christmas Panettone cake to share with Ms Gingerich. Yum. 

Amelia “helped” me grocery shop on Friday. Mostly, she commandeered my phone for “point five” surprises. She’s such a delight. I lost a Christmas gift. It was delivered from Amazon but got put away because the box showed what was inside. I didn’t recall this at all, except for the moment I put it away. It was driving me crazy. Everett and I cleaned and reorganized the pantry. It was so cluttered we couldn’t walk inside. Justin assumed the responsibility to organize the hall closet. He was interested in that project mostly to locate the snow gear and thin that herd. Everett worked on putting cans back in the correct slots. That was a labor of love. I want to assign someone to stand at the pantry door, the gatekeeper of sorts, to hand out pantry items. Amelia, Phillip, Everett, Logan, and Carson went to the temple to do baptisms around 3:30 pm. I had a photo session at the Meridian Temple so scheduled the teens to enjoy a session.  The session was cancelled last moment but the kids still went to the temple.  I still had aspirations to take some Christmas photos of the kids and dogs sometime during the break. I found the missing present on top of the fridge while setting up my studio paper. The kids were good sports to comply with my crazy ideas. I hung wrapping paper with a hole in the middle the kids could stick their heads through. Silly and fun. I also had a vision of Evelyn praying stuck in my brain from a school photography project Amelia had using my beauty light. Evelyn unwrapped the missing gift, a fun paper quilling kit. Now Christmas is over…almost. Still waiting for Santa to deliver the correct gift to Josie. She is all ready for that to happen. 

Saturday morning our ward had a temple session booked for 10 am. I was grateful for the chance to go through the temple before the year ended. Our family had a lot of downtime, just hanging out playing games, reading, watching TV, baking, and just being bored. It was a nice change. Now it’s time to look forward to 2025.