Our Christmas eve is usually spent with Joe's family at his parents house. But we had to post-pone the celebrating until everyone could make it. So, I decided to invite my family up to our house for Christmas eve dinner, which traditionally in my family is an itali
an meal. I wanted to make lasagna, totally from scratch. I made the sauce, the noodles, used fresh mozerella, lots of fresh basil... yum! I was also up until the wee hours of the morning... was it worth it? Here I am with my sister by the festive table. I used my Grandma's Christmas dishes, which I love! We also had my parents, my Grandpa, Aunts Vicky and Cindy, Uncle Alan, and Cousins J.J. and Holly. My Christmas gift to everyone was a dvd of an interview I did with my Grandparents in 2006. My Grandma died Feb. 2008, so it was our first Christmas without her. I put lots of family pictures on the dvd with Grandma and some pics of her as a little girl and young woman. 
Here are my parents with the kiddos.
It was so nice to be at our house for ONE of the Christmas Days. Joe and I put the kids into bed and got ready for Santa to come!
Let me just say that for some reason, Mina and Calvin are terrified of Santa. I tried to have them go see Santa, my parents did, I tried to take just Calvin... no luck. The last time I tried with Calvin was at church and he screamed and cried. He watched ALL his friends go up, sit calmly on Santa's lap, take a picture, get a candy cane, but he still was not having it. FINE. I can't blame him. After all, Santa is a "stranger" and it is really weird that I would ask my child to go sit on this strange man's lap (no offense bro. Bowker). So when Santa was done with having all the kids sit on his lap, he was walking around a bit, saw Calvin running around playing, and tried to grab him! Oh NO! Not good, that sent Calvin into the biggest crying freak out yet! After that, whenever "Santa" would come up, Calvin would say, "I don't like Santa. Santa is bad. I don't want him to come to
our house." Mina seemed okay with "Santa" as long as she didn't have to go near him. She knows Santa = presents. So she helped leave him cookies and milk. On Christmas morning, Calvin was the first one up, at 8:15 and he came straight down to get us. He passed the Christmas tree on his way, mind you. When he came into our room, I ask him if Santa came. He s
aid "no, Santa didn't come. I didn't see him." I suggested he go and take another look under the Christmas tree to see if there were any presents! Poor guy, I think he was freaked out by the idea of Santa coming into our house at night and waking him up or something, and then he would have to see him! So, when he finally figured out that Santa brought toys, and he didn't have to see him, he was cool with that. We had a nice Christmas morning. Santa brought big cardboard blocks,
books, dresses for the girls, beanbag game for Calvin, microphone karaoke toy, a volcano lamp for Mina, Buzz and Woody for Calvin, and cookies for the kitchen set. I also wrapped up the baby Jesus for our nativity set (I held it back all season) and put it front and center in the branches of the Christmas tree. It was the first thing Mina went for and she was so excited to open it and go put baby Jesus in the manger. Later my Mom and Aunt asked her what Santa brought her or what her favorite Christmas gift was and she told
them Jesus! Yay Mina! We must be doing something right! I'm so glad she got that message! I really wanted to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas and the real reason for celebrating and getting presents. Rarely did we talk about Santa without talking about Jesus in the next sentence, and how He is the best gift of all, and that is why Santa brings us presents.
After a nice morning at home, we 
went to my Aunt Chris and Uncle Ron's house, which I have done every Christmas since I was a kid. I love getting to see all my cousins on my Dad's side and all their kids. Mina spent most of the time in hiding or in my Mom's arms because there were 3 dogs there - she is completely scared of dogs. Calvin is a big scared too, but I think it mostly comes from Mina. I did get him to pet one of the dogs later. My Aunt is an awesome entertainer and puts on a great spread - all the traditional favorites. We always take a family picture in front of their tree on Christmas day.
THEN, we spent the 26th with Joe's family. Joe's sister Kasey and her husband Sky, moving to the east coast last summer, so it was so nice to have everyone together! Joe's Dad is the cook and does a tradition meal for the fish eaters (Joe) and non-fish eaters (me
). This year we did surprised Joe's parents by doing a Christmas pageant. Mina was Mary, cousin Alex was Joseph, Calvin was the innkeeper, cousin Natalie was an angel, cousin Kailey was a shepherd, and Mayzie was a lambie. Mina had her part down when we practiced at home, but when it came time to perform, she did not want to participate. So, our pageant ended with Mary pouting on a chair in the corner. Oh well, maybe next year! Here's a family pic with everyone.
We had a great Christmas! We also enjoyed the many days after playing with new toys at home
Calvin likes to say "I have a goo-dea" (good idea) very often lately. It's very cute. Some of his goo-deas are "why don't we watch a movie?" or "we can put the cushions down" (take all the cushions off the couch and jump on them). Recently his goo-dea is almost always "we can have family home even-nin", like every night! Which is funny, because he is a big goof during FHE and often it ends with him yelling or crying. Oh well, at least he thinks it's a good idea! 
