Christmas, 2017 is now officially over. I still listen to Christmas music during my morning walks, right up until January 1st, but that's just me holding on as long as I can. If I'm honest with myself, I know it's over. Because we celebrated on the 27th rather than the 25th, we stole a couple extra days, and it was most definitely a Christmas to remember.
I chose the title for this post because something magical happens when your children sleep in your house Christmas Eve, even if some of those children are technically adults who live elsewhere. Our oldest, Luke, lives in Maryland so he wasn't here, but the other four were right under our roof as "visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads." It made for a tight squeeze, as Isaiah slept on the living room couch and Seth in the big rocker/recliner, but it was totally worth it! Shulamith told her son, Swen, that she actually heard the "clatter out on the lawn" when Santa came. And I think she did.
She and I woke early with her kids, so we tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to wake Isaiah or Seth, to see what Santa brought. We checked the cookie and milk plate, and sure enough, all gone. Under the tree we found the gifts from Santa, and we hurried right back up to my bedroom, to play and wait until others woke up.
Erichsen-Webster Christmas celebrations are big events, and no one describes them better than Shulamith's husband Matt, so I'll refer you to what he had to say last year. Now think "repeat in 2017," only we didn't go to church because it wasn't Sunday.
We love giving and receiving gifts, and even more, we love to watch everyone open his or hers, slowly, one at a time, so yeah, it takes a minute. Here are a few highlights:
Shulamith's daughter, Kennedy, gave her mommy a new wallet. She was so proud!
Amanda gave Eli a personalized calendar with pictures of all their family members on their birthdays and anniversaries.
Amanda and I gave Eli and Gerald matching robes! How cute are they?
It's a tradition that goes years into the past for the girls to have matching Christmas jammies.
Most of my sons aren't quite as into the whole Christmas jammies deal, but I knew Eli would be delighted to match Shulamith's son, Swen.
After three kids, Shulamith's diaper bag was worn and in need of replacement.
Shulamith's baby, Theodore, opening a present on his first Christmas.
Beforehand, I would have told you this would be the best surprise of the morning, a joint present for Isaiah and Seth: a Nintendo Switch console.And believe me, it was pretty awesome. We actually drew a real reaction from Isaiah, and this picture captures it well. Neither of them was expecting this gift, which is exactly the way I like it.
But no, it wasn't the best surprise of the morning. This was. Oh my goodness! I have wanted this painting for a very long time, and Eli and Amanda made it happen. But I think it's worthy of its own blog post, so I will leave it for now.
The day was full of food, fun, and festivities. You should see my house. Or maybe you shouldn't. There were 12 of us opening gifts, followed by 12 stockings. Just imagine the amount of paper, let alone the gifts themselves! But instead of cleaning up, we jumped right into some serious competition called "The Game of Things." Have you ever played it? You should. Except my family doesn't think I write good answers, when really I do. Super good ones. That make sense. They are the ones who write bad answers, including ones that use those horrible bathroom words, you know, the ones that begin with the letter "P" and are totally inappropriate. Ugh!
Then we played Jenga. Which is terrifying.
We ended the night with Shulamith cooking potatoes in her new Instapot, which is very scary. I will definitely let her figure it all out before I get one for myself. We talked. We laughed. We dreamed of the day not too far in the future when Eli and Amanda will graduate and move down here. It was good to be together. Until next year...
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
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