This was our first year to stay home for Christmas.
What did we do?
We played.
At the Oliphant Family Christmas party on the 23rd, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Dave gave Joseph a race track, so the morning of Christmas Eve was like a Christmas morning preview with "some assembly required" and lots of playing. We also took a brisk walk to the library and stopped at the elementary school playground. Joseph put me through the recess obstacle course; I didn't do too badly!
We relaxed.
We cooked.
This summer in our garden, Marc planted pie pumpkins. During the day on Christmas Eve, Joseph and Marc cooked a couple pumpkins from our garden that we've been saving. Then I turned the pumpkin puree into pies!
We enjoyed our neighbors.
- We invited Bob over for our big meal at lunchtime--burritos with homemade beans, fresh salsa and guacamole.
- Our Philippino neighbors invited us to their celebration that begins after midnight mass. We passed because of the kiddos, but they brought us a big bowl of the delicious soup they traditionally eat at midnight.
- We had a playdate at the park with our Egyptian neighbors (one of Joseph's classmates and her family). They later stopped by with a traditional Egyptian dessert, kanafeh, fresh from the oven.
- On our walk home from the park, one of our neighbors was setting up his observatory (apparently this size is too big to be called a telescope). He invited us back when it was dark for a viewing. Joseph (in his jammies) and Marc took him up on it while the sugar plums were already dancing in Abigail's head.
We celebrated the meaning of Christmas.
We sang Christmas songs, Joseph read us the Christmas story from the children's scripture reader, and we drank egg nog by candlelight. Marc's family also stopped by to carol to us and bring us a heaping plate of Grandma Donna's homemade goodies.
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