The Best Eve Of The Year

Christmas Eve was simply wonderful. I got in a nice long run, knowing that on Christmas I wasn't even going to try, only to return home to a feast of aebelskivers hot and ready for indulgence. Adam has taken over as head chef of this delicious breakfast tradition from my Dad over the past few years (at my Dad's insistence), prepping the batter the night before and doing the cooking, but my Dad's experience and skill are still required as sous chef: getting the lemons and melons chopped and ready, the butter melted to hot and bubbly, and the powdered sugar, waiting for distribution in heaping white mounds. As ever, they were perfect and gobbled up rapidly.
After breakfast it seemed like a good idea to take a walk in the brilliant sunshine, hopefully burning off an aebelskiver or two. Every trace of fr-fog was gone and the day was warm enough for the kids to completely reject jackets. Although we adults still bundled up.

We had completed our last-minute shopping (except for multiple trips to the grocery), so we spent the afternoon relaxing, basting the turkey, and entertaining the kiddies.

Christmas Eve night our friends the Nunnellys joined us, we love their company, but also having just moved to a new house and still living among boxes, we thought it would be nice for them not to have to worry about putting together a large meal. But Shaina still brought along with her a feast: some delicious homemade rolls, creamy mashed potatoes (seasoned to perfection!), a plate of ham and a chocolate silk pie that was to die for! Contrary to the turkey-that-cooked-in-seconds from Thanksgiving, our Christmas turkey took more time than planned, so we were a little late getting dinner going, but it just meant more fun visiting all together. We added to the food with the turkey, some crudite, green beans with butter and toasted almonds and dark chocolate mousse. And thank goodness Shaina was there to catch some pictures, because once again I found myself unable to take pictures and cook at the same time.
We carried on a tradition started by my sister last year of popping Christmas crackers. It feels so festive to wear the little paper crowns all night and the kids are always excited about the odd little toys that come inside, even Tommy got a kick out of his whizz whistle that he couldn't make work because he was blowing into it backwards.
After dinner and dessert we gathered around to hear a very noisy (as would be expected with 10 kids including 2 1-year-olds in the audience) version of the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2, read by Adam, while the kids held up pictures and put the nativity together piece by piece. Those kids all sure knew the story well!
Before the Nunnellys left with Merry Christmases and hugs we unwrapped Tommy's Christmas jammies and got him all ready for bed, he was getting pretty tired. We thought he looked very Dickensian--and terribly darling--in his "papa hat." Just after our friends left we {should have} put him to bed with one more kiss under the mistletoe before Santa's arrival. But I wanted to get a picture with all the boys together in their Christmas jammies so he waited for bed time. You will see how that idea turned out....Then we set to the business of opening the rest of our Christmas Eve jammies (except for Adam, who got a new robe). I love the Christmas jammies tradition. The boys are always so excited for them and, to be honest, I am too! They are always so cozy and perfect for a cold winter's night!
Another of our Christmas Eve traditions includes opening our "stockings" from Nana and Papa that usually include gifts from their many travels, near and far, from the past year. This year we received items from the Oregon Sea Lion Caves and the Yucatan Peninsula, some new movies, and a few other goodies. The hit of the night was a ceramic jaguar that made a "roar" when you blew into it. In the first picture in this set my mom is blowing into it. I love the look on both Zach and Luke's faces as they realized what it did.
Before bed the boys put out a mug of eggnog and some of our coveted Peppermint Joe Joes, the highly flown in special from Issaquah's Trader Joe's by Nana and Papa because they know they are Santa's very favorite cookie at our house. The stockings were hung with care, except for Ruby's which awaited filling on the floor by her blanket. We were all excited, anticipating Santa's visit, but even with expectation in the air, the boys fell asleep quickly...except for Luke, who rarely falls asleep quickly. Adam, my dad and I popped over to our neighbors' house to say hello during their Christmas Eve open house while my mom stayed with the kids and prepped for the morning, making a delicious spinach and shallot strata. Before bed, and to make it a nice, late Christmas Eve we decided to watch a black and white classic, perfect for Christmas Eve, Miracle on 34th Street. It was about as perfect a Christmas Eve as I could have imagined.