For us, Christmas isn't measured by how many items you received on one's wish list, but by the combination of moments throughout the day that make one happy. Based on this, I had a very wonderful Christmas.
We drove to Cypress in 2:35 on Saturday--record time. It was raining the entire time, and we haven't seen that much rain in a long time (merry Christmas, Grass and Trees). Shortly after arriving, I realized that I had forgotten our basket of items, which included the rosemary dinner rolls I had stayed up baking the night before, our homemade applesauce, and my salad for dinner. I cried. I can't believe I forgot it on the kitchen island. I wasn't going to be able to stick to WW very well without a salad. Click the "panic" button. Marshall was sweet enough to offer to take us to the grocery store and pick up a replacement salad and rolls, which we did.
Before dinner commenced, we opened crackers, put on our paper crowns, and read the jokes that came with them. Marshall's parents put a lot of effort into the meal, and everyone enjoyed it immensely. Afterwards Marshall and I took a nap, then as a family we watched A Christmas Story. When it was through we drove around the neighborhood and looked at Christmas lights. I love looking at Christmas lights, especially when you can see decorations inside the house through the windows. I like seeing other people's trees too. I have no idea what time my husband came to bed, but I was asleep by 11pm. My body got me up Christmas morning, bright and early, and the ripe time of 6:30am.
My father-in-law made us breakfast, and then Marshall woke up. Afterwards we opened presents one by one. Santa brought me a book of card game rules, an ornament, a pinball game with a prize inside and electronic kitchen timer that can track 4 different things at once. Joy gave me an amazing set of boxing targets and ladies' gloves. I've wanted these so I can do cardio and strength training indoors. Jeff gave me a Le Crueset skillet that looks amazing for stir fry vegetables! Marshall gave the the exact same timer (hehehe), fuzzy socks, and a gold plated venetian mask with diamonds on it. I absolutely love it! In fact, I wore it the entire way home to Austin yesterday.
After presents we cleaned up the now empty boxes and shredded wrapping paper. Joy and I looked through a digital scrapbook her mother had made of her time at BYU in the 1940s. We left at 2pm for Austin. On the way home, Marshall wanted to know if I still wanted to wait until Monday morning to open all the remaining gifts at our house (from my family and each other). Since we were coming back earlier than expected, we decided to continue Christmas when we arrived home.
I made french toast, scrambled eggs, and browned some left-over ham slices that was sent home with us. We lit the candles on our table centerpiece and had a nice little dinner. I had been craving french toast. Now I'm much better. :) The first presents we opened were the cat's stockings. They must have been good babies because Santa Cat brought each of them a can of Fancy Feast, something they had never had before. Maggie doesn't seem to like wet food very much because she didn't eat much of her turkey & giblet flavored treat. Misti and Santa went to town though!! Then I asked Marshall to open to other present that Santa Cat had given the Reeske Cats--it was a set of three Christmas themed picture frame ornaments with a picture of each cat in black and white already in it. Marshall thought they were adorable and wants to keep them out all year long because they also have a stand.
We opened our stockings first. Mine had two books and a gift certificate for a massage! His had new pens and a bag of his favorite cookie mix. Then we opened gifts from my family. My sister Rachael got me make-up and Marshall a three-step shaving package. My parents got Marshall a WW scale, which at first he thought was for me. I had to tell him it was for him even though it was a WW brand. It calculates BMI and body fat too. He's really excited. He also received a book light for late night reading. I received little baking loaf pans with size appropriate spatulas, mini tart/quiche pans, two mini bundt cake pans, WW chocolates, little cow clip magnets for the fridge, and an electric skillet. I can't want to go through my new WW cookbook and find recipes I can make in it.
Marshall loved all his gifts from me, and it seems his favorite is a sea sponge I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond. He's wanted one that can really clean him up well. He liked the stand-up fan for the garage, new air hose, bamboo cutting boards and socks. I had written him a Christmas themed non-fiction story, and it came with a gift associated with the narrative. He opened the story, but read it later that night. Then he opened the present and was baffled at the wooden yo-yo. Later that night while we were in the first living room reading, I saw him get to the end of the story and pick up the yo-yo. He finally understood, and absolutely loved it. It even made him tear up, and I've never been able to do that before!! He brings me happy tears all the time, but I've never been able to do it to him.
My husband spoiled me this year for sure. He got me all the books on my wish list including a woman's health one that my friends had recommended. We now have our own Apples to Apples game too! I have a new bird house that is a wooden cabin that has a sign "Moose Lodge" and another towards the bottom that reads, "No bears allowed." I love it so much. I was the second to last present I opened, and the package was too big to contain a bird house. I was starting to wonder if I was going to receive one at all! He also got me a rack for inside the pantry door so I have even more storage. He's going to bolt it down for me today. His last gift was completely unexpected. He refurbished his '08 white Mac notebook for me that had liquid spilled on it months ago and wasn't working. I can lay my Dell 1200 laptop that I bought in September 2005 for college to rest. I was so shocked and completely overwhelmed. I had never received such a gift on Christmas before. We had a wonderful time having our little Christmas at home together.
We wanted to watch the Muppets Christmas Carol, but it wasn't on Netflix--can you believe that?! I think I'm going to look for some classic Christmas movies on DVD and start a nice collection for us to watch each year.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well!
No comments:
Post a Comment