Christmas Eve:)

After battling Influenza A and what I can only assume was a stomach virus, i was a little concerned about how smoothly our Christmas Eve festivities would go. The first stop the girls and I made was Mamaw Bessie's house. In the kitchen, a few family members were busy at work preparing some of my favorite foods. Aunt Debbie was arranging toppings on her homemade pizzas, Uncle Richard was washing dishes, and Aunt Donna was checking foods on the stove and in the oven. I took over for April so that she could feed her family and eat. Dozens of gyozas (wonton shells filled with hamburger, cabbage, onion, and green pepper) covered wax paper-lined cookie sheets.  I had the pleasure of babysitting the gyozas after the were dropped into the hot oil of a deep fryer. Their shells turned bubbly and brown and I removed them from the oil placing them on paper towel to wick away some of the excess grease. I was cooking next to the same 'elders' that I've watched cook so many Christmas Eve dinners before.  Uncle Richard buzzed around behind me, cutting pizzas and washing dishes. For so many years I'd been involved in eating but never cooking dinner. It made me feel so much more a part of things. Once the last gyoza was removed from the oil, I joined my family in opening gifts. The little kids rolled on the floor with their new toys and the older folk sat in chairs laughing and enjoying each other's company. Shortly before leaving, Tyler let me know that he was on his way home from work and would join us at home for our second family get-together.

That evening, we went to Mamaw Barb and Papaw Dave's for Tyler's family Christmas Eve function. This year we played Family Feud and a different version of Take-Away. I always laugh so hard that my face hurts the next morning- and tonight was no exception. Tyler and Uncle Gary made their typical cracks and Papaw Dave and Uncle Bruiser chimed in at just the right moment. There is never any shortage of comedy with them around. Some of the family went to church for Christmas service but once they returned, we made our way home for the night.

When we got home, the girls were asking lots of questions about Santa and behaving pretty suspiciously so I decided to lock the door the the spare room where our gifts were hiding. We sprinkled reindeer food in the backyard, set out cookies for Santa, and bedded the babes down for the night. Everyone was exhausted so we got very little resistance. Once we thought the coast was clear for Santa to arrive, we made our way down the hallway to the spare room. I straightened out a wire hanger to unlock the door with but just as my luck would have it, the lock would not budge. So there I was, sitting in the hallway exhausted at nearly midnight, with a screw driver removing the knob from the door just so that we could enter the room. After a few tears of frustration, Santa finally made his stop.