Where to begin ...?

Okay. Let's start with the food! Adam made yet more fudge. (And then when he found out Shani is allergic to nuts, he made yet another batch without nuts!)

I made a half-size Mississippi Mud Cake for Philip's birthday.

The baklava is disappearing. I may or may not be participating in this disappearing act.

Many gingerbread people are coming to life and being eaten.

Christmas Eve, the local thrift store had a massive sale, and I went with the kids. Isn't it cool that, just because of romantic love, my four kids have now increased to six kids? Love that :)

Meanwhile, Adam had to repair a hole in the dining room floor. When you have eight adults in an 1100 square-foot house, holes in the floor are a problem. He did a great job.

Christmas Eve afternoon, all of us traveled across the river to see a movie together, Rogue One. I really, really liked it, for many reasons. More than any other new Star Wars movie, it reminded me of the original trilogy. The plot was adequately complicated but held together well and was developed well. Characters were sympathetic and interesting. I highly recommend.
We returned on the ferry just at sunset. This is Philip and Kara.

The sunset was impressive.

These two cuties are just a joy to behold.

We sang to him. One of our dogs ate most of my birthday candle collection, so I only had a "6." Philip is 26 wonderful years. We are so proud of him. He was a Christmas Eve baby.

(Video of us singing to Philip should be here, but I'm having technical difficulty.)

And then ... the boys finagled me into playing Settlers of Catan, a game I'd never played before.

That was a long game! In the end, we were all desperate for it to end. I needed a shower and to do dishes, but we are Christiansens, so we had to play until the WIN. It took Forever.
After the kids all arrived, and mysteriously decided this would be The Year when they all bought presents for everyone, our tree was heavy-laden.

Adam made pumpkin scones and oatmeal/maple scones for breakfast this morning.

Our living room was totally trashed after Santa came! I think this was after we'd picked up a bit :)

Many dishes were done. Peter and Shani were great!

The boys put two leaves in the table, and I used my fine china and even my crystal! That was fun. Peter is now old enough that I can trust my crystal in his hands, heehee.

For Christmas dinner, we decided to have my mother's Sunday pot roast dinner: beef brisket, potatoes, carrots, celery, and onion in a luscious gravy, cooked slowly for hours (while we were at church). This brisket weighed about 12 lbs. It was MASSIVE.

Adam, who was a bit sick with a sinus cold, sat at the head of the table.

Peanut gallery on the left ...

Peanut gallery on the right ...

My plate -- in addition to the contents of the pot, we had my mother's cole slaw, asparagus, peas, and Adam's dinner rolls.

Adam and I really enjoy this new stage of life. The kids are grown or almost grown. Regarding young children in the house, we are at a pause -- in a few years, I'm sure the little toddlers will come along, and we will enter a new, even more wonderful stage.

But I am absolutely loving these grown kids. We have had the most lovely and delightful visit so far. Thankfully, Peter and Shani will stay a couple more days, and Philip and Kara will stay the rest of the week. And Anna is here for THREE weeks! I'm so happy.

Anna, Shani, Peter, MK, Adam, Kara, Philip, Julia, Beau

Tomorrow we girlies will go to town and get nails tended to. The menfolk are playing Settlers of Catan again tonight, and they are much better suited to that highly-competitive game than I am. I'm watching my advent candles burn down again this year, one of my favorite things to do. It's a little sad to blow them out one at a time as Christmas night slips into darkness, but the cycle of God's years means that this celebration of the Salvation of the world will come around again, and we will again remember. Merry Christmas.