New Traditions

Some of the best parts of Christmas this year were the newer traditions. Despite having piles of family in the area, we ended up not having any parties or get-togethers on Christmas Eve, so we began a tradition on our own. My parents also did not have plans that night, so we invited them to join in the festivities. I hope they will join us each subsequent year as well. They really made the evening much more fun!

I decided I wanted to do a different theme to our Christmas Eve each year. Being as I didn't have piles of extra energy (still unpacking) I went with an easy one this time. I went with an "Island" theme. (Some other ideas I have for subsequent years are "Little House on the Prairie", "Swedish", "Dickens Era", etc). Fortunately, easy as I made it, the evening was grand fun. Check our Sara enjoying herself in her festive jammies.
Most of the islandishness centered around food. Though we did all wear shell necklaces, courtesy of Mom and Dad. I made homemade Crab and Cream Cheese Wontons that I served on seashells that Mom got in Hawaii when she was younger than I am now. Jason worked the new fryer and they were delicious. Really, I should only have made the Wontons for dinner; they were definitely the best part. Fortunately, I made around 40 of them, so there were plenty for all of us. We also had Teriyaki Chicken and my fried Teriyaki noodles.
Jason and Laura made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. This is a continuation of an older tradition (but still in the theme) that we initiated with Laura to teach her the real meaning of Christmas. We sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blow out a candle. This year she insisted we sing all the birthday songs to Him. So, we sang 4 Primary songs in addition to "Happy Birthday"
Then we did a live nativity. My adorable Mom provided us with the costumes. Laura, of course, was Mary. Jason was Joseph. My Mom was a Shepherd and narrator. Dad was a Donkey and narrator. I was an Angel and Sara was the multitude of the heavenly hosts. It was wonderful to see how intent and reverent Laura was about it all. I think she understood how important and amazing the birth of the Savior really is. My Mom then told a story (using a flannel board, how awesome is she) she used to tell me when I was little to further illustrate the Christmas Story, "The Little Star"
We also opened the presents from my parents that night. (I'm glad we could because poor Laura might have burst from anticipation had she not been able to open something then.) We were all excited to get our new ornaments, as well as other gifts, and hung them on the tree right away. My parents always get the most perfect ornaments to commemorate our specific time of life. However, I think Sara liked the paper the most.
The next morning, after opening presents, we had Jason's parents over for a big breakfast. We once again used the fryer and had scones and honeybutter in addition to bacon, OJ and toast. The scones were stellar. Even Laura, who has suddenly become insanely picky about all new foods, liked the scones.
We then opened gifts from Jason's parents. The cool ball popper they got for Sara was a major hit! It then was lovely to just hang out with them, reminisce and enjoy watching the girls play with their new toys. You can read about their time with us HERE.
Okay, so almost all of the new traditions centered around food this year. I had a realization about this food thing. I love to feed people. I mean, I enjoy cooking, but the true enjoyment comes from feeding people. Yep, that means you will probably get an invitation to our house for dinner sometime.