We felt like we were in such a scramble the whole month that we hardly did many fun Christmasy things, or at least it felt that way. We did get to experience a lot of new things, though--games, friends, food and movies. Okay, if any of this writing sounds weird and disconnected, it's because my head really isn't in this right now, but I'm pushing myself to write anyway.
Okay, games: Shad's coworker Andy asked Shad to learn his game Ventura for him. Andy said he learned better being taught, rather than reading. It actually turned out to be a lot more work than anyone would have anticipated. Ventura is an Italian game (translated into English) and apparently their organization for the explanation of rules is really disorganized and discombobulated. I can't remember exactly, but I think it took Shad upwards of 3 hours to read through the first time. After playing it once, Shad reread the rules to make sure he got everything. Short description of Ventura for those who are interested: You are an Italian family in the 14th Century warring against other families for land, wealth, and fame. Real historical military leaders are on the military cards. We rate this game 4 out of 5 stars--losing one for the rule book. Also! Bonus feature of the game--everyone else hated the ridiculous rule book too, so the $80 game is $20 on the internet as game stores are trying to get it off their shelves. Shad and Andy now play Ventura at work with another coworker during their breaks. Since they can't just have the game out on a table, Andy has them playing it out of 2 drawers in his tool cabinet. Yes, we are that into our games!
Friends: We got better acquainted with Andy and his wife Denise. They live in Beaver City, Nebraska, which is about 30 minutes north of us. We had them over for pizza and Ventura. Denise brought a fantastic dessert--cookie dough baked in brownie batter. I really need to try making that myself! So good! After dinner, I ran out to the theater for 45 minutes to train Andrew (Shad's manager) and his wife Kynzie in working concessions at the theater. Jeremy (theater manager) had called asking for help, but since we had plans we couldn't. We found Andrew and Kynzie to help Jeremy instead, and I went to train them. Super competent concessions workers! We also got to enjoy Andy and Denise's company more after the Natoma Christmas party. Several of Shad's coworkers asked if it was time for games at our house when the party ended, so we had a spontaneous game night. We played Smallworld with 8 players (it's a 5 player game, so we used the 5 player and 3 player boards together) and played in teams of two.
Food: Denise's cookie brownies were delightful and talking about them is making me crave them now. We also had a Brazilian meal for our International Christmas dinner. Mouthwatering
Brazilian pork ribs with
Brazilian rice, and steamed broccoli. I cooked the ribs in the crockpot instead of oven, and used the broth in Beef Stew the next day. Oh, we couldn't get over how deliciously juice it was! We're excited to have it again soon.
Movies: We introduced Tom and Katie to the Home Alone movies. Just the first two. Anything after that doesn't count. It was such a treat to watch with them. When it got to the booby trap scene at the end of the first movie, Tom and Katie were dying laughing!
I was going to write about Christmas in a different post, but since I started with the food here, I'll continue here. Christmas Eve I baked the last kind of cookie I wanted to bake, then we made up our goodie bags and went out to deliver them. We sang carols to our friends and neighbors as we delivered them cookies. We also drove around looking at lights in the process. We exchanged gifts at Paul and Mallory's house while we were there. We gave them Epic, they gave us Monsters, Inc., a cowgirl Jessie costume for Katie, and Dominion (a card game). Tom was so excited over Monsters, Inc! We were already planning on having hot chocolate with popcorn and a movie when we got home, so we watched Monsters, Inc. Okay, maybe they all watched Monsters, Inc while I finished wrapping presents and stuffing stockings. And Tom watched the movie almost daily for the next 3 weeks.
Christmas morning, Elder Willden and Elder Hammond came over to spend the day with us at 8:30. We opened presents together, then cooked breakfast while Tom and Katie were downstairs watching Epic, which Katie got for Christmas. We pretty much didn't see the kids all day. They watched their two movies and played in the basement, except for when they came up to ask for food. We played games with Willden and Hammond. They helped assemble the breakfast burritos that I had made the filling for earlier that week.
My favorite husband got me a grain grinder for Christmas, which, truth be told, is the one thing I wanted, but didn't want to ask for because I thought it was too much. He's the best! He also got me a Civil War battle map and a Pirates of the Caribbean Davy Jones' chest CD player--something I wanted 9 years ago when it came out in Target. Now it's in my sewing/craft room, if I ever have time to go there and enjoy it.
Our house has two heaters/coolers--one in the attic that circulates the upstairs, and one in the basement that circulates the basement and main floor. The upstairs one (that has had problems with the a/c for a couple years) broke at the end of the month. So we bought one space heater and borrowed another and will just wait to replace the unit with tax returns.
Tom and Katie helped get out all our Christmas decorations.
Dancy had fun with all the new stuff to play with.
Tom and Katie did a good job decorating the tree.
Despite her face, Dancy is Shad's number one fan! And in case you're wondering, those two circles on Shad's forehead--those are from those plastic poppers that you invert and then they pop up in the air. You know what I'm talking about? He and Tom were putting them on their heads.
Tom found a new way to climb on the couch.
Over the back!
The sum of all December--Christmas, chaos, happy kids.
