Christmas Day

Christmas day yesterday ended well but started off a bit rough.

The kids woke up at their usual 5:30ish, climbed into our bed and hung out for a while. I suggested, "Hey Nora, wanna open your presents?" Patrick wasn't thrilled with this idea, as his idea of a good Christmas morning was more leisurely...shower....coffee....breakfast....THEN presents. So I blew it by suggesting the presents because then Nora was completely excited about it. We did end up eating breakfast first and the kids managed to wait. Next year I think I"ll do the stocking thing so they have a little something to open when they wake up. Now I fully understand the purpose of stockings. :)

Christmas day brought good books and clothes to our family. I think our family got the drift about no plastic toys, no toys of any kind and definitely nothing with batteries--Patrick's blog post about toys said it all.
Patrick got the book, "Kill it and Grill it" by Ted Nugent from Anne and Dan. Hes been reading me quotes from it the past day. Ted has many thoughts and ways of butchering an animal that Patrick really agrees with....especially the part about how a butchering party should be a family affair and kids should grow up seeing and appreciating the process of properly processing the meat from an animal. We completely agree. It'll be fun to try out one of the recipes from it soon.

Midday we took a walk outside with the kids and then proceeded to take a LONG nap. Which I very much needed-just ask Patrick. I think we all slept for 2 hours. Just Heavenly. Upon waking up, we took off to Mike and Roxann's for a fun filled, food filled dinner. Mike made an amazing pork dish which had a wonderful pesto sauce for the top as well as scallop ceviche. (BTW He and Gregg make the BEST ceviche ever.) The kids all played really well--more and more, the adults are able to sit back, chat and enjoy ourselves as the kids run around entertaining eachother. A little intervention here and there is needed from us, but for the most part the kids are beginning to go on cruise control. Yeah!

A fun day it was. And I"m so thankful to be safe and sound in Kodiak this holiday--especially with the 80 mph winds we're having today. Theres no place like home, theres no place like home...

Zoya

Photos:
Roxann and I working on cleaning up the mess...
Roxann and Mike at the Christmas day table
Stuey with his box of packaging...which he played with for a good 45 minutes--better than any toy!!
Stuey and I looking at books on Christmas morning.