Christmas Wrap-Up

Christmas was so much fun this year. It's neat as the kids get older to share in the magic of Christmas with them. As I mentioned before, I love the traditions we share this time of year. We spend Christmas Eve with Dave's dad's family and share some Norwegian traditions with them. I'd say there's about 65-75 people at this party. Everyone wears a Norwegian sweater and some of the young girls wear a Bunad (see Sophia below). In 2002, Dave and I went to Norway with his family and bought a sweater and a Bunad for future children. We were so excited this year when the sweater fit William and Sophia was able to wear the Bunad. At this party, we always read from Luke 2 and then have dinner. The menu is mixed with both American and Norwegian dishes. Dave's favorite is Pinnekjøtt which is a lamb dish. There are other Norwegian dishes but I can't remember the names of all of them. For dessert they serve riskrem (rice pudding) or chocolate pudding (for those of us who can't handle the native stuff). Each person at the table has a bowl of pudding and one bowl has a nut in it. We sing Jingle Bells and pass the bowls, then when the song is done you search for the nut. If you get the nut, you get a prize which is usually a huge chocolate bar. There are usually about 5 tables, so five winners. After 13 years of participating in this tradition, I finally won the prize this year! After dessert, Santa pays a visit (or just rings the doorbell) and leaves a present for each of the little kids. Also, Grandpa John gives each person a present as well. After hours of fun, it's time to go home and get ready for Santa.

Christmas morning, we brought William and Sophia into our room and had a few special moments with them where we talked about Christ and then we went down to open presents. Eva slept in and opened her presents later. At 11am, Dave's family (the same group from the night before) get together again for a brunch. I LOVE the food at this brunch! There's fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls, bacon, egg casserole, hot chocolate, OJ, fruit, and smoked Salmon. There are also a few Norwegian dishes, but since I'm not a fan of them, I haven't bothered to learn the names. One I do remember is rømmegrøt. It's essentially boiled sour cream with cinnamon and sugar on the top. Dave loves it, I hate it. I've really tried over the years to learn to like the native dishes, but so far the Pinnekjøtt is the only one I will eat/tolerate.

After naps, we head over to my parents house for their Christmas Open House. Again, the food is always great with the highlight being my mom's homemade chocolates. They are delicious! I asked my mom to come and give me a lesson a few weeks ago, I hope I can learn to make them myself someday. For Christmas, my parents gave me all the tools I would need to make them, so now I just need to practice. My parent's side of the family is much smaller, so this gathering doesn't have nearly the same number of people. It's nice to have a more intimate gathering at the end of the day. I love these two days of the year and am so grateful to be able to spend them with the people I love.

Happy New Year!

Here's a few photos of playing in the snow the day after Christmas: