Christmas Morning

I'm laying on a warm, sandy beach. I hear the sound of the waves lightly lapping up on the shore. A breeze blows through the palm trees overhead. I am blissfully happy.

Hugh Jackman comes into view and tells me I'm the most amazing woman he's ever met. Then he leans over, taps me on the shoulder, and whispers in my ear..."Mommy!"

Huh?

He taps me again, more urgently. "Mommy!"

Oh. That's right. I'm dreaming.

More tapping. "Mommy!"

"What, Caralie?"

"I didn't get coal in my stocking!!"

And that was how Christmas morning began.

Caralie and the non-coal contents of her stocking.

I made her stocking when she was a baby. We have big stockings in my family. It's because we have such big feet. Yeah.

The magical wonderland that was our living room. Keep in mind there are gifts for 8 adults and one child!

The first present opened. Santa made a good choice. This was ultimately Caralie's favorite gift.
(Santa only brought 2 gifts, by the way. Why should he get all the credit?)

Daddy's gift to Caralie - is anyone really surprised?

Mommy's gift to Caralie. Her Care Bear slippers from last year were so small they made her toes curl.

Nani and Auntie Lisa watched from afar. Ain't technology grand?

Caralie's Christmas breakfast: Coca-cola.
Yes, DFACS has been notified.

Since Uncle Clint wasn't due to arrive until later in the day, we saved breakfast (egg casserole and french toast) for later when he could enjoy it with us. So I ended up spending most of the afternoon making a bunch of appetizers to tide everyone over.

There were my marinated pretzels (recipe in previous post), deviled eggs, a cheese and cracker tray, a veggie tray, bread bowl dip, cocktail wieners, and later I made guacamole. Definitely check out the links to the recipes - they are totally awesome and delish.

As it turns out, Clint was asked to wait for a later flight in return for a free flight voucher. Then the later flight he took was on another airline and he got first class! Unfortunately that meant we didn't eat "breakfast" until 6 pm. We were expecting guests at 7 pm and still had to finish breakfast, celebrate Chris's birthday (he had to work that night), and open our remaining gifts. Well, the gifts got put on hold. Christmas was a CRAZY day.