Christmas Eve 2011
Jake had to work right up until Christmas Eve, so we didn't leave Albany until late Friday afternoon.
I took a break from packing to snap a quick shot of our holiday decorations and all the cards we received in the mail!
The boys found my stash of already wrapped presents hiding underneath the piano.
Ben may or may not have opened a gift to his cousin and I had to re-wrap it.
It's a tradition in my family for one person (or several people) to get a pretty elaborate gift on Christmas morning. We've done giant sea turtles, an Indian tepee (including camp fire!), a miniature house... you get the idea. This year the lucky reciepient(s) were my father, Nana, and David. They were getting the Streeter version of a garage band setup.
Karen making sure the 'mic' works.
She also crafted the drum set and cymbals. I helped to cover them in red paper.
My dad was getting a guitar for Christmas, so we wrapped up the box as a keyboard.
Mom wanted to make a roast beast for Christmas Eve dinner, but it was still frozen when she put it into the oven.
So we had leftover, warmed up, pork tenderloin, Waldorf salad, mashed potatoes, and some crescent rolls.
Just as we were leaving for church, the roast was done!
Uncle David and nephews, enjoying some pre-dinner cheese and crackers.
I got the boys dressed in their Christmas Eve church outfits, and envisioned a lovely photo-op with them sitting by the fireplace.
I did not get a single photo of them BOTH looking AND smiling!
Nope.
"Seriously, Mom? Can we just be done with this?"
Then we went to church for handbells, puppet theatre, Daddy playing the organ, a 4-person choir, and a song only the pastor knew to close the service. I spent most of the service standing in the back, holding a wriggling baby and keeping him from crawling directly into everyone.
I took a break from packing to snap a quick shot of our holiday decorations and all the cards we received in the mail!
The boys found my stash of already wrapped presents hiding underneath the piano.
Ben may or may not have opened a gift to his cousin and I had to re-wrap it.
It's a tradition in my family for one person (or several people) to get a pretty elaborate gift on Christmas morning. We've done giant sea turtles, an Indian tepee (including camp fire!), a miniature house... you get the idea. This year the lucky reciepient(s) were my father, Nana, and David. They were getting the Streeter version of a garage band setup.
Karen making sure the 'mic' works.
She also crafted the drum set and cymbals. I helped to cover them in red paper.
My dad was getting a guitar for Christmas, so we wrapped up the box as a keyboard.
Mom wanted to make a roast beast for Christmas Eve dinner, but it was still frozen when she put it into the oven.
So we had leftover, warmed up, pork tenderloin, Waldorf salad, mashed potatoes, and some crescent rolls.
Just as we were leaving for church, the roast was done!
Uncle David and nephews, enjoying some pre-dinner cheese and crackers.
I got the boys dressed in their Christmas Eve church outfits, and envisioned a lovely photo-op with them sitting by the fireplace.
I did not get a single photo of them BOTH looking AND smiling!
Nope.
"Seriously, Mom? Can we just be done with this?"
Then we went to church for handbells, puppet theatre, Daddy playing the organ, a 4-person choir, and a song only the pastor knew to close the service. I spent most of the service standing in the back, holding a wriggling baby and keeping him from crawling directly into everyone.