Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Being home for the holidays this year meant celebrating the birth of little baby Jesus as I did growing up.  Christmas Eve is always a gathering of my dad's side of the family.   My dad is one of four and I have five cousins and now two second cousins on this side, which makes it the larger side of my family and makes one full house.

My mom, dad, Tom and I arrived at my Aunt Wanda (my dad's sis) and Uncle Kim's in the afternoon looking forward food, presents and seeing family I had not seen in a while.  We were the first ones there, but the house quickly filled.  I think there were seventeen people in total that night if I counted correctly, and a few of the family unfortunately were not there.

Tom was a hit with my second cousins Kensi (7) and Kendall (3), daughters of my cousin Chris and his wife Heidi.  He was much better at blowing up rocket balloons than I was, and we were quickly sent to one of the bedrooms to play with these noisy toys as our meal was prepared.

We ate a delicious feast of honey glazed ham, baked salmon, walnut gorgonzola salad, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, and various other little treats.  It enjoyed meeting my cousin Eric's girlfriend Megan.  Tom and I sat across from them during the meal and as Megan is allergic to all dairy products it was interesting to hear how Eric (who loves to cook) is adapting many recipes to be dairy free.

Then came the presents.  Who doesn't love a gift exchange?  Although, I think half of the fun this year was watching the excited little girls.  My cousin Kari played Santa passing the gifts around whilst wearing the required Santa Hat.  Tom and I were both delighted with our gifts, thank you very much family.

More food followed.  Desserts were spread across the table for sweet tooth's to enjoy; lemon bars, brownies, pumpkin cheesecake, and more.  Eric then prepared a classic for this family, oyster stew.  A thin rich broth filled with tasty oysters, of course I had to have a bowl.

With my stomach in pain the evening began to die down.  Away we went to get some sleep whilst Rudolf was flying Santa in his sleigh.

Love