Xmas wrap up

Christmas morning started out, as always, with a big breakfast at 9:00 am., which my parents join us for. I made tofu scrambler, biscuits and gravy, and sweet rolls. Dej was planning to come over for breakfast, but upon awakening (before noon for a change), she was tired and not too hungry, so she and Luke decided to come at 9:30 instead--just in time for presents.

We were a little worried this year about the girls being disappointed with the gifts, especially L. We cut back on all our spending this year, and in addition, L's most wanted gift, a Wacom table, was expensive enough that there were very few other gifts from us. The gift opening portion of the morning went much quicker, but neither girl seemed to mind at all. They were both just as happy as in previous years. We very much enjoyed having less stuff to buy, wrap, and find places for. It was very nice all the way around. I think we will continue to cut back a little each year. I think we will all be happier in the long run for it.

After all of the presents were opened and stockings were emptied, the parents went home, Dej ate her giant breakfast, L played with her new toys, and M took a little nap. We enjoyed our quiet time at home until it was time to go for the big dinner at my parents' at 2.

My dad's brother Norm and his wife, and my mom's sister Bobbi and her spouse, joined us (as usual) for xmas dinner. After Bobbi & T left, the rest of us watched A Christmas Story. That's one of a handful of movies that we select from and watch each year. We came home at around 10.

The following day (with my house still in a fair amount of chaos) M's parents, brother Dan and his wife joined us to celebrate the holidays. We visited, ate M's chili (the winner from his second year in the chili cookoff), and then went through the holiday light show at Rotary Botanical Gardens. It was lovely, as always. We had holi-specs this year, for the first time. They look like 3-D glasses but make every light look like it has a glowing star around it. They are very cool and it was fun to view the light show with them.

Notice L is wearing her baby shoulder dragon. That was on her xmas list right under the Wacom. Her xmas list was typed, categorized, prioritized, subtotalled and totalled, and complete with Amazon links for each item. She informed us that she had created it (as requested) and saved it to the network, under her data folder. M and I laughed when we looked at it. It is so very like her. The first time we looked at it there were 12 or so items on the list. A few days later, there were only six items. I asked her what happened to the rest of her list and she said it made her feel greedy and gross to have so many items on her wish list, so she deleted them.