Christmas Adam ... because Adam came before Eve

The snow continues to fall!  HAPPINESS!

I am completely satisfied to not step foot into a store until next year.  Well... other than a grocery store, which will be a necessity for some fresh things as they are needed.  I'm also completely satisfied to not spend a penny for another store for while as well!  I'm spent... physically and financially!  The holidays are expensive!  Carol and I were talking about the amount of money the holidays cost.  Just keeping the candy dishes full for the month can cost a hundred dollars!  And gift wrap and bows and boxes and tape... they add up.  And decorations and lights and and and.  And lets not even talk about the food!  That's all before the presents are even considered.  The holidays are just plain expensive... and so worth every penny!  I love every tradition and treat and meal and gathering!  SO WORTH EVERY BIT!  It's the food and the traditions and the gatherings that make it so fun!  No complaints from me... well, other than my foot hurts and I have gained two pounds. ;)

For Christmas Adam, we had hoped to beginning a new tradition.  Being that Liza and Buddy are 400 miles away and Dale is 900 miles away, we wanted to have our first family Christmas party by Skype/Facetime! Well, that didn't work out.  Dale got a new phone that is not an iPhone.  My Skype wouldn't download onto the iPad or PC for anything.  Dale only had Willow until 5PM, the exact time that Quayd and Doug got off work and won't have her until Christmas evening.  Sadness.  We'll try for a new years skype.

So, last night, after dinner, we had our first Christmas Adam family party.  We played a new game called "That's it!", in a modified version since we were on facetime.  Buddy was the first person with twenty points, so he won.  Then, we passed around the jar that I've been collecting money for since Thanksgiving.  I just kept adding change to a jar and a few bills here and there.  Then, everyone studied the jar closely.  Even Liza and Buddy studied it, having me turn it slowly close to the screen, back and forth in whatever direction, holding it when they said.  Then, everyone wrote down their guess as to how much was in the jar.  Buddy texted his, Liza's and Aylabelle's guess. 

 
I was surprised at how close every came to guessing.  Grace was over by ten dollars.  Everyone else was within five dollars under.  No one saw anyone's answers until I had collected them all.  I read them aloud and then we emptied the jar, pennies, nickles and dimes at a time, with dollars and fives here and there in between.  Everyone was on the edge of their seat until the very last minute, as I covered the jar and they really didn't know how much was left as I counted it out.

QUAYD won the prize - the jar full of money! He had calculated and counted and measured for an hour.  The funny thing is that there was no way to calculate.  The jar had a few Hersheys Nuggets and Hersheys kisses in it.  There was change and dollars and fives and a twenty.  However, he was onlytwenty-four cents off from guessing exactly $48.04, which was what was in it!  We had a lot of laughs, but when Quayd won, WOW!  He was so loud and excited!  Very fun to watch his enthusiasm.  The first thing he did was hand me a $5 bill to pay tithing with it.  This will definitely be a new tradition for our family.

 

I had to laugh earlier in the day when ZJ looked at the jar and that's the first time I've ever seen that expression on her face.  She said, "I need that jar!"  Even Doug had no clue as to how much is in it, so, he got a chance to play too.  He guessed $83.38, which made us all laugh and made me say, "Gee, Babe, if I'd have known you thought that much was in it, I'd have put more." 

We still have our gift wrap game to do after all of the presents are open.  Last year, we waited until New Years Eve.  We'll see how that goes this year.

After the "party", we said our goodnights to Liza, Buddy and Aylabelle, then we built a fire and settled down for "A Christmas Story", which I don't think any of us had watched in a very long time... years!  So, it was like new, except the scene with the telephone pole.  Everyone knows that scene.  ha!

It's Christmas Eve afternoon. Everything is wrapped. Stocking stuffers are wrapped, sorted and ready to be put into the stockings after bedtime.  The ham's cooking.  The rolls raising.  Party Potatoes ready to bake.  Salads are made.  I have an apple cake to bake... maybe.  We'll do our traditional gift opening tonight (pajamas, of course), followed by Doug's little spiritual devotional reminding us of why we are celebrating.  Then, we'll probably open a movie. Since everyone's older, we'll probably watch the movie and have snacks and treats and munchies all night before bedtime.  (Do we really need that apple cake?)   I'm actually kind of excited about a midnight Christmas Eve soak in the hot tub.  I think that the biggest question of our day is still Do we want to open gifts in the den by a roaring fire and in total comfort and privacy or do we want to do it in the front living room by, what Zee calls, "The real Christmas tree"?   I'm wishing we had set the "real" tree in the den because we all agree that it feels like a Christmas room, but tradition puts us in the front room.  We'll see in the morning, I guess, what Mr. & Mrs. Claus decide to do.   And, no, I won't move the real tree into the den tonight, as was requested.

Merry Christmas!  What a joyous time of the year and what a miraculous and wonderful reason we have to celebrate!  I'm thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ... for His birth, His exemplary life, His atoning sacrifice and for His Gospel.  There are no better gifts, followed closely by family.  How blessed we are to have six beautiful children and umpteen grands!  Life is good!