Christmas Day

Oh by gosh by golly, Gabby was up early and making coffee before the first light of day :) Buck was grateful to walk out of his slumber chamber to the tune of hot coffee and cinnamon rolls, all ready to go! Gift opening began with stockings and then moved on to some sweet sibling gifts. When the text message came in from the round one newlyweds--that they would be arriving early because of the ***snow***--everyone waited for them to coast onto the scene . . . by 9 a.m. if that tells you what time we got started this particular Christmas morning ;)

This year's stockings had some more grown-up stuffed gifts like address labels and postage stamps :) The teens and twenties also opened vehicle warning light code readers and personalized playing cards. Those who aloha-d to Hawaii paged through personalized photobooks, and those who earn their living in the cycling industry received a pizza cutter, plaque, and a gear-like fidget spinner :) Teen boys gotta have snacks--teriyaki jerky, weird Poptart flavors, Takis of unusual seasonings, and of course treats and raisins. A few more items from a little shop we admired in Maui made it into the stockings as well; I tried hard to not just order everything from Amazon. We definitely mixed it up a little this year!

Noah and Caelan arrived with Miss Scarlet the long-legged, and started telling stories of their time here, there, and everywhere since we'd seen them last :) Caelan was excited about the plant stand from Graysen, the kicks from Brennen, and I remember Gabby giving her butterfly clips, but I think those were for her birthday :) Gabby gave Noah a little drummer boy drum set and he gave her a stick of butter ornament. Brennen's gift raised the annual weapons count, and I think you can hear what he had engraved on it and the box in the video below . . .

As you can see the BIG gift was a surprise from everyone for Gabby. She's been missing learning and music, so Brennen sought and found her a bass guitar. She played Vanilla Ice--I mean Under Pressure--at the kitchen table a bit later ;) Everyone gave such nice gifts this year, which is wonderful when it isn't a financial pinch to do so . . . I know they may not always be able to spoil each other like they did this season, but it is sweet that they showed their generosity and thoughtfulness when the funds were available to do so. One of those rare and special years! I know that when times are leaner, their creativity and hands-on skills in writing, art, needlework, building, music, etc. will make meaningful gifts come to life. Regardless of the gifting, their love for each other is apparent and that makes my heart happy!

Under the tree, tucked in the wrappings, there were LEGO sets and musical instrument accoutrements and a Corgi (for Graysen :) and Green Bay fit (also for Graysen) and t-shirts and a dress shirt and an espresso maker and DeWalt shop vacs and forensic science curriculum and Narnia audiobooks and a garment bag and a gun scope and mags and bullets and knives and a sword . . . I can't remember all the things, but definitely a fun morning of opening surprises. And then building them!

Gabby gifted Chase a full-sized Aragorn sword from LoTR! Noah was checking it out as newlyweds round two were heading to their second Christmas gathering at Chase's parents' home. I did get a pic of everyone together before they left :)

You likely saw my gift from Graysen in the background of our Christmas photos--it actually became a nice place to hang New Year decorations a week or so later :) Buck ordered these three cute, crocheted chickens from a friend of mine whose husband used to lead music at the big church. If you look in the background, you'll see the microwaveable/lavender-scented chicken Noah and Caelan gave me. Yeah! A cuddle chicken!! Brennen turned one of our collective most favorite pictures (I put it on a keychain for G$, too :) into a spinning cube that lights up, so cool! And Chase and Gabby added to the Nativity set she built for me last Christmas--just look at all those darling critters now gathered around the manger!

Outside was a snowglobe, gently shaken, with big, puffy snowflakes--our second snow of the season, incredible! Buck headed downstairs to watch football, Caelan grabbed a book she's been hoping to read--and then wouldn't leave until she'd finished it, so I could read it and we could talk about it the morning after next--uhh, I hadn't finished a book since September, so it took me a little longer than her belated birthday breakfast :) But it was a very intriguing story with so many characters! I'm glad I kept a list, and that reading it kept them here until well after 11 PM . . . Brennen helped me work on the puzzle I decided to build while Caelan was reading and Noah was knitting! Caelan is teaching him how to make a scarf and he's got a really good start on it. I told him how all kids were taught knitting during the Civil War, WWI, and WWII. They were "Knitting for Victory," sending garments to keep the soldiers warm. We read a children's book about it at the library, once. Both our boys tried knitting a few years ago, so maybe, like the LEGO and now Hot Wheels collecting, that will come back around. Winter is the best time for knitting, so warm and cozy!

Dinnertime! Buck's roasts finished up in the smoker just when we were all feeling hungry! We had a very traditionally non-traditional meal with asparagus, mac and cheese, baked potatoes, cheesy cauliflower, yeast rolls, my grandma's rice, and some lemon fluff. Good stuff!

The dessert Buck brought home, a black forest mousse cake with cherries, was amazing! And the pups had an amazing time playing together! Olive got a whole bag full of pink tennis balls and she shared them with Scarlet. She also "got" Scarlet a gift--a travel car care kit, since Scarlet still gets motion sickness and often pukes as a passenger. Poor pup just doesn't want to "load up" at all, anymore. But, she had a grand time with Olive!

I *stole* part of Caelan's Christmas video montage (but edited out the parts at Noah's house :) I love these little videos! And I love my Crew and the Christmas we spent together--Jesus is the reason for the season, from now into eternity, and I'm grateful that's the amount of time this Crew will have together 💕 Merry Christmas from all of us!