Christmas in Caldwell

The last time we celebrated Christmas on our own was in 2005, when I was pregnant with Hakan. As much fun as it is to be with our family during the holidays, sometimes it's nice to have a small, quiet Christmas with just us. We get to implement traditions that we're accustomed to with our own family, so even though we're alone it still feels like Christmas.

This year we did some traditional Christmas Eve activities, like letting the kids open up the pajama bottoms I made...

...having Daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas"...

...hanging stockings...

...and leaving cookies out for Santa. The next morning the kids actually slept until their usual time (7:45), so we didn't have to make them go back to bed even once! Then, of course, it was present time.

After the presents were opened and the living room was turned into a disaster area, the kids played for a bit then we had some lunch. Nap time was welcomed and enjoyed by all, then it was time for me to get started on dinner. Our menu was to be steak, "funeral potatoes" (cheesy hashbrowns & onion casserole), stuffing, rolls, cranberry relish, "fancy" green beans and sparkling cider. I hit a few snags along the way, and looking back it makes me laugh that we were able to have any dinner at all.

First, I'd started on the cranberry relish the day before and it was still worrying me. The recipe calls for at least a cup of sugar, usually more. Snag #1: I only had about 3/4 of a cup left after making a gazillion snickerdoodles for the neighbors. Solution: I dug through the bins of canned food storage in the garage and found a #10 can of sugar I'd bought when I visited the Idaho Falls cannery 3 years ago.

Next, Aaron had decided not to stop at the store on the way home from work on Christmas Eve to buy fresh dinner rolls, so I figured I'd try making some myself. Snag #2: Besides being a horrible bread-maker, I only had 1 egg and my recipe called for 2. Solution: I found a different recipe that only called for one egg, so I altered it a bit and made some decent rolls (for a first attempt).

Then I started assembling the funeral potatoes. Snag #3: The only onion I had was moldy on one end. Solution: Just used half an onion instead of a whole (the non-moldy half, to be clear).

The green beans and stuffing didn't give me any trouble, but when it came time for Aaron to grill the steak, we hit Snag #4: We were out of propane. Solution: Pan-fry it on the stove. I hate cooking meat this way, but it was our only option since the oven was still being used for the rolls.

And finally, when we were almost ready to sit down and eat, Snag #5: Neither of us could make the twist-off cap on the sparkling cider budge! Solution: Aaron got some pliers from the garage and "convinced" it to come loose. Sheesh. It was a good meal, though, if I do say so myself. I think the kids' favorite part was the sweet cider and being allowed to drink out of their fancy glasses. They were so full on candy they really didn't eat much of the meal that I'd struggled with for hours! Ah, well. More leftovers for Aaron and I.

Sorry about the awful photo below- I forgot to turn on the flash. But I thought I'd include it anyway since it's the only one of all 4 of us that was taken yesterday. We sure had a great Christmas- hope all of you did as well. Enjoy your time together as a family right now, even if things don't go they way you expect them to. Just smile, shake your head a little and remember the things that are really important.