It’s hard to believe Christmas day has come and gone! It often feels like a let-down when I wake up on December 26th, like we prepared and waited and celebrated and then so quickly it’s all over. Of course, my birthday is tomorrow, so I have another celebration day coming then. Anyway, I recently heard of a family who celebrates the 12 days of Christmas, and beginning with December 25th they have special traditions and celebrations for the next 12 days. They might open certain gifts or bake or watch a movie, but the point is, they spread it all out. I think this would help keep that magic going for a bit longer, and encourage more reflection and appreciation. So, maybe we’ll give that a try as EB gets older.
Here’s a little glimpse at our celebration this year. Frank and I gave Elsie an outdoor swing, and he got it all set up on Friday. We went ahead and broke it in on Christmas Eve. She loved it!
The ridge beam from our new (almost finished) porch extends much farther than it needs to, and Frank left it that way just for this reason. It makes a great spot for the swing to hang. The chains are about 13′ long, so the swing has a nice long arc.
We went to the Children’s Christmas Eve service at church. The children’s choir sang, and they were so darn cute! So, later after Elsie went to bed, Frank, Mom and I opened our gifts. Since I was old enough to understand Santa, we’ve opened most gifts on Christmas Eve. We save the stockings for the morning, and of course we saved all of Elsie’s gifts for the morn. So, when she woke, we all headed to the tree!
Wouldn’t you know she seemed more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper than anything else! I’m sure that will change over time. I can’t get over the cool gifts she received! Our friends and family are so generous and have such good taste!
After gifts we had a special little breakfast treat. I splurged and ordered these croissants from Williams Sonoma. I’ve heard such amazing things about them, and when I received a free shipping email from them a month or so ago, I placed an order. They come frozen, and you just keep them in your freezer till your ready to indulge.
You set them out on a cookie sheet the night before, and when you wake, they have thawed and risen.
You bake them for about 15 minutes, and this is what you get!
Oh. My. Goodness!
These were divine! We served them with fruit and bacon. Mmmm.
Mm.
So good! So worth the splurge. They end up costing about what you’d pay for a croissant in a bakery, so to have them fresh and hot out of the oven from the comfort of your home is such a treat!
So, we spent most of the day lounging around, playing with our new gifts. For dinner I decided to make PW’s mushrooms and rib roast along with some other yummies, so I started the mushrooms around 11am (they cook for 9 hours!). We enjoyed their intoxicating scent all day.
Poor little Elsie is suffering her first real cold. She’s much fussier than usual, has less of an appetite, and her tiny nose is all runny. Poor thing. Thankfully she’s still sleeping through the night and napping pretty well.
Once she went to bed, we had our big Christmas dinner.
That prime rib and the whisky cream sauce and those mushrooms were soooo good! It’s hard to go wrong with a Ree recipe. The evening ended with a rousing game of scrabble.
So, there’s a little glimpse at our Christmas. I hope yours was filled with joy and love. Does anyone else open gifts on Christmas Eve? Do you bake frozen pastries? Try those WS croissants!
