Christmas Festivities

MMMMMMMMMM. I love Christmas. More than I can even say. Here are some pictures from the past weekend. (Is it really over already?) I'm totally having withdrawals. Ian was thrilled with his haul--which was all mostly a bonus, since the only thing he asked for was a doll (who is affectionately named Chippy).

We started things off by having a Christmas Eve brunch with friends. Food was a joint-effort....I love enjoying the food exploits of my friends. =) Lemon scones with lemon curd, roasted potatoes, fresh pineapple, Canadian bacon strata, lemon rosemary cake, apples and applesauce. I would like to relive this brunch again, please.



As is tradition, we made ice cream on Christmas Eve to have with our Christmas Day bread pudding. No need to buy ice, Joe simply empties the gutter spout, breaks it up, and voila! Ice! This year's recipe called for an entire half-gallon of half-and-half and not a ton of cream...in retrospect, I'm sorta wishing we used more cream. (Shocking, I know).



Joe got socks. Lots of socks. The good kind. Every time I give him socks for Christmas or a birthday or whatnot, I always get the 'there-are-few-things-better-than-good-socks' shpeel. Gives me warm fuzzies every time.



At my baby shower for Ian, I was given a piggy bank as part of a shower game....and Ian has been so in love with it.....until it cracked. So he got a new piggy bank (well....it's a cow, if we're getting technical here), and proceeded to play with it for 15 minutes. (One of the benefits of a small Christmas at home is the flexibility to take six full hours spanning two full meals to open/play with gifts). Pure bliss.



Christmas morning at our house wouldn't be complete without Eggs Benedict. (Note: Santa brought Joe new safety glasses. Apparently, Santa had a good idea). =)



I like to call this: Slinky, Take II. This is Ian's second slinky. I'm much more confident in his abilities to not twist it all up this time. He loves it.



What has Joe been asking for? Totaling two full years of asking, it's a 100-foot extension cord. The joy in his face was fantastic. I love it when that happens!



Joe and I both have one, so we thought it was time for Ian to have his own balaclava. It's a win-win, because now he can get a secondary use out of it by dressing up as a bank robber for Halloween.



Dinner. More warm fuzzies.



The spread. I learned from mistakes of years past and made a more manageable amount of food for just the three of us. Though, 90% of the ham is still in the freezer in the basement. Last year, however, it was like I was cooking for the entire BYU offensive line.




Please excuse the inclusion of the discarded fatty bits of ham in this picture.