The final phase of Christmas was held at the McMahen casa on Sunday, Dec. 26th. I really don't know how to explain it, but this season was so much more relaxing and less harried that Christmases past. Christmas Eve was spent with the McMahen/Morgan family as usual. This year it was held in a banquet room at The Holiday Inn Express in Terrell. Nice. Since it's my year to host it next year guess where it will be...same hotel. No ridiculous cleaning beforehand only to have it to do all over again once everyone leaves. No kids tearing through the house reeking havoc along the way. It was less personal but so much easier. There was room to visit and time to visit. White elephant gift exchange was optional this year. Only about 12-15 people participated. 90% of the gifts centered around some kind of alcohol ::snicker:: and the gift exchange did not take very long. I got a neck massager which I will be returning to CVS for a cash refund or store credit. Ronnie got a cool thermometer thing which you mount in the house but gives outdoor readings. Afterward we returned home and relaxed.
On Saturday, which was actually Christmas Day, we went to Kristin's house to hang out and go out to lunch with them. This was Trenton's year with his dad and so we chose to celebrate when he returned. The day started off pretty good with Carter being playful and goofy. However, he was having to take some pretty frequent breathing treatments for his asthma. Deciding on TGIFriday's for lunch, the Durbs went out the back door to their car and we went out the front door to our car. Soon Kristin approached us to inform us that Carter has just yakked all over himself and the carseat. The decision was made to order Friday's take-out and eat at their house. Ron and Scott left to pick up the food and Kristin and I watched the Christmas parade while Carter napped. Gosh, Mariah Carey is HUGE! I don't care if she is pregnant with twins. Her legs look like tree trunks! That aside, there was a mix up with Fridays but we eventually got our food. Delicious! Scott was concerned about my persistent cough so he left to get me some Dayquil. Carter gave himself, and his toy dinosaur, breathing treatments throughout the afternoon, and finally Ron and I headed home.
Once home I set about making the spice cake and chocolate pies for the next day. I also boiled the eggs for deviled eggs and dressing and made a loaf of homemade bread (okay...it was in the breadmaker, but still I made it). I did everything that I could do the night before and finally went to bed around 3 a.m. Up at 7 a.m. I checked on the turkey and set about putting things together to go in to the oven. I actually got a short nap in before the kids started arriving.
Ryan and Rich were the first to arrive. They put the gifts under the tree and Rich went straight to the sofa and fell asleep. He was sick, sick, sick. Ended up in the ER later that night. He awoke only to eat and open gifts. I felt so badly for him. He was miserable and it showed.
Our menu was a staple...but delicious nonetheless. Mimosas to enjoy while waiting for dinner to finish, smoked turkey, ham, dressing, bread, green bean casserole (supplied by Kristin), sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, spice cake with cream cheese icing, chocolate pie, peppermint and cinnamon cookies and sopapilla cheesecake. Yes, I went overboard on the sweets. We also had tea, beer, margaritas and crown. May have gone overboard on that, too! ::shrug::
After lunch we opened gifts. Carter is hilarious! He opens a gift and then wants to play with it rather than open more gifts. Trenton is so precious. He came and hugged us after every gift he received from us. Our gifts seemed to be a hit with everyone. Carter got a drum set that he banged on all evening. Trenton got Ben 10 leggos that he played with in between snacking. Ryan and Scott both got gift cards to upgrade their iphones, and Rich got a recliner that he had picked out. Kristin got a kindle which she immediately fell in love with.
The highlight of the gift giving is Trenton's gifts to everyone. Kristin takes him to the Dollar Tree each year and he picks out something special for each person on his list. He puts a lot of thought into his gifts and they are delightful. This year Scott got a light up ax (glowstick), Ryan got a Santa figurine, Rich got a purple frisbee, Ronnie got a tape measure and I got a black and red watch. Kristin got a female figurine. "Trenton and Carter" also got their mommy a special gift with a booklight and a B grade horror DVD. She loves cheap horror movies. This one had four movies on one DVD. Example: "Boy Eats Girl"...he loved her for her brains. How cheesy but she was so excited.
Ryan took a sick Rich home and later Kristin and Scott took the boys home. The cleanup began. I stripped all the Christmas decorations and piled them in the corner under the Christmas tree. Today, I packed those away for next year. House is back to normal...whatever that means.
Tomorrow we are going to meet Kristin and the boys at Chuck E. Cheese. I am also going to get my nails done, return the neck massager and go to Kirkland's to spend some of the gift cards my kids got me.
As I said when I started this blog, the pace was slower and Christmas was so much more enjoyable this year...even though I have been sick for two weeks! Let's pray that 2011 brings us a year of health and happiness and joyful times with the ones we love.
Happy New Year everyone!!
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