Merry, Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas

All Twenty One Of Us

7:00 AM

It's pitch black at 6:30 on this Christmas Morning and I am the only one up although I chased Halle off the couch and upstairs when I came upstairs for coffee.  She said she couldn't sleep. I assume the girls will sleep in until a reasonable time, let's say 8:00.  We will have to see.

Yesterday was an interesting and busy day, to say the least.  We were having Drew's family over, a total of 19 for dinner so we had to be tres organized.  Drew and I were out shopping by 10:30 only to find the liquor store did not open until noon.  We had, however, other errands to run so we did get some things done.  By noon, Jill had gone off to get some things at the store and soon after Hayden and Halle also drove off, to do some last minute shopping.  And the final run was at 3:00, as Drew drove off to pick up freshly made croissants from a French bakery for Christmas morning's breakfast.

Jill With Mom's And Sister's In Law

Drew's family was not to arrive until 4:00, so much of the afternoon was spent prepping dinner although Evie had made a couple of pans of ziti ahead of time to make it easier.  And she made a carrot cake a couple of days ago so all she needed to do was frost it.  Drew and I helped out when we could and watched football on the Red Zone, which gives you the highlights of all the games, not just one.  We were also having chicken thighs to go along with the ziti so Evie roasted them around 3:30, getting them out of the way so we could then bake the ziti.  That's when the fun began.  After the chicken was baked, the stove did not seem to work.  We played with it but, alas, it seemed to have broken and we still had ziti to bake.  So Jill called a neighbor, a poor guy who was home sick, and he was happy to let us use his oven.  So we took two zitis up the hill, baked them for forty-five minutes and we at least at dinner for the gang.

The Girls Enjoying A Glass Of Wine

Drew's Sister In Law, Marty, And Daughter, Brie

Everyone arrived around 4:30 and it was fun to see Drew sisters and brothers and their children, some we had not seen since their wedding over 20 years ago.  The kids are mostly grown up, a few in high school like Hayden .  And it's fun to see how well cousins get along (like our grandchildren) even though they may see each other only a couple of times a year.  Dinner ended up being great, the ziti devoured and a few pieces of chicken left.  So Evie and Jill were happy.

After dinner, because of Evie, of course, the kids went wild.  Evie brought Genga along so eight of them played Genga on the kitchen table, yelling and screaming each time the tower fell.  And Evie introduced them to spoons, which is also a loud and raucous game and it was questionable if the table would survive.  The rest of us talked, sipped a cocktail or glass of wine and had a dessert made by Drew's Mom so we never did get to the carrot cake.  Everyone left around 8:30, happy and full of good food and drinks.  It was a fun way to spend a Christmas Eve.

After everyone left, we sat around talking and decided to watch Christmas Vacation until a couple of us went to bed.  Evie helped Hayden wrap a few last presents before also going to bed although Hayden stayed up until 1:30, a late end to a fun day.