This Christmas

Dylan and Diego are ready to open presents on Christmas afternoon!

The kids added their gifts for each other to the pile under the tree.

In a small Christmas miracle, we were all able to gather at noon on Christmas morning to open family gifts together. Everyone had the day off from work except Chris, who had to work from 2-10 p.m., so he did have to miss Christmas dinner. And Jacob wasn't able to make the trip to join us. Those two facts were what prevented it from being a BIG Christmas miracle.

We had a White Christmas!

We also had a nice White Christmas, with a small snowfall in the morning, then some sunshine, followed by a little more snow in the afternoon. Pretty, but not enough to make driving unduly dangerous for careful drivers.

Even before Christmas Day, we enjoyed cards and gifts from friends & family,

like homemade candies from Prestwiches & homemade bread from Johnsons.

It had already been a wonderful Christmas season, beginning with David Archuleta's great Christmas concert, followed four days later by a lovely "Evening in Bethlehem" church dinner (I'll post photos from the dinner in a couple of days), and then Sarah's Christmas concert with White Mountain Symphony Orchestra eight days after that. There were a few other events that I missed due to a sinus infection that lasted almost two weeks, but the holiday spirit was everywhere. Along the way, we received beautiful Christmas cards and a few handmade gifts dropped off by good friends.

Mark's and my gifts to the family were all under the tree by Christmas Eve.

But now, at last, Christmas Day had arrived! Due to the aforementioned sinus issues, I did most of my Christmas shopping online this year. That was a first for me, because I'm one of those rare people who doesn't mind shopping, and the bustle of seeking the perfect gift in a store filled with like-minded shoppers simply feels like Christmas to me.

Online shopping, on the other hand, was a little nerve-wracking. Each item is given a possible timeline for delivery, and the latest date listed for my selections was Saturday, December 21. That seemed safe. In reality, though, the predicted dates had little resemblance to the actual deliveries. Some arrived more than a week before expected, which was awesome. Others were well past their delivery windows. I held my breath until the last box arrived on the day before Christmas Eve.

Because Jacob was unable to join us, a few gifts are still unopened.

So everything was in place when the kids arrived at noon, ready to see what they got for Christmas this year. We always open one gift at a time, going from youngest to oldest. First, Dylan opened his gift from his dad; then Jake opened his gift from Mark; then Sarah opened her present from her dad; then Chris and then me. Then Dylan opened his present from Sarah and Chris; then Jake opened his from Sarah and Chris; and so on. I like that it stretches out the fun and gives us all time to admire each other's new goodies along the way. When everyone just rips open their packages at the same time, it's all over much too fast!

Dylan had barely opened the first present when Jacob called us from Mesa to wish us all a Merry Christmas. We paused the gift-opening so we could enjoy a nice long visit with our absent family member. Dylan put Jacob's call on his iPhone so we could see Jacob and he could see us while we talked. It was the perfect way to start our festivities. Sadly, Jacob's presents are all still under my tree, but we may drive down next week to hand-deliver them to him. I like to be there when he opens them!

Dylan with his Christmas presents.

So...here's what Dylan got for Christmas 2019:

Sarah and Chris gave him a $20.00 Walmart gift card, attached to a big M&Ms milk chocolate bar (embedded with lots of mini m&ms).

Mark gave him what appeared from the packaging to be a GIANT Kit Kat bar, but in actuality held about 30 regular Kit Kat bars.

I gave Dylan a "Make It Fancy" tee-shirt; a Mario Kart Monopoly Gamer board game; two of his beloved Terry's Chocolate Oranges; a $20 gift card to Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers; and ten $1,000,000 bills adorned with cool characters and items from the Zelda video games.

Jake with his gifts.

And here's Jake's take:

Sarah and Chris gave him a $20.00 Walmart gift card, attached to a big M&Ms milk chocolate bar.

Mark gave him a big Santa Claus-shaped Reese's candy.

I gave Jake a Darth Vader tee-shirt; a crystal ball surrounded by flying Dementors, resting atop a sculpture of Hogwarts; a framed bit of tee-shirt (more about that below); and a Special Collector's Edition of Hollywood Spotlight, "The Complete Guide to Star Wars."

After they got home, Dylan and Jake texted this picture

of them wearing their new shirts. Perfect fit!

Here's the story of the framed print, below. Back in July 2012, when we drove cross country to upstate New York to visit my then-husband's grandmother and other relatives, we also set aside three days to spend in New York City. While at Coney Island (part of Brooklyn, NY) on our last day, we came upon a vendor on the street, selling everything from parrots to cell phone cases (Dylan bought himself an OtterBox case for $5.00). The guy was also selling some very nice souvenir tee-shirts for cheap. I think I got six tees for $10.00.

Dylan wore his shirts all the time, for years, but he'd only worn this red one a few times before one of the shoulder seams unraveled. I folded the shirt and put it into my "mending drawer," where I put everything that needed a few hand-stitches...and where they lived the remainder of their lives because I never actually mended a single item from that drawer. Last summer, I cleared out that drawer. I threw away or donated every piece of clothing that was in there, except this shirt. I just loved the colors and how it named each place we'd visited during our long-ago stay in New York City.

A closeup of the framed tee-shirt I made for Dylan and Jake.

I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Even if I mended it now, it was too late to be of use to Dylan, who long ago outgrew his 15-year-old self. Then I realized it might have sentimental value to both Dylan and Jake. Although they didn't meet until a few years later, Jake was still living in the Bronx (where he grew up) at the time we were there. When they compared where Jake lived and the places he frequented with the places Dylan and I visited while in the area, they concluded that they may have been close--maybe even passed by each other--at times during our stay.

Thus, I cut up the shirt and stretched the print to fit inside the frame, giving it to Dylan and Jake as a memento of a time when they were so close, never suspecting what the future held.

Sarah with her Christmas presents.

Sarah's surprises:

Chris gave her two heart-shaped necklaces with purple gemstones, her favorite color.

Dylan and Jake gave her an adorable Puppy Puzzle, and they also plan to get her some puzzle glue for it so she can display it later.

Mark gave her a pet-treat launcher and a bag of dog treats, which they had to try out right away, of course. Diego appreciated the treats!

I gave Sarah a Jim Shore sculpture of Simba, Timon, and Pumba walking across a log from a scene in The Lion King (we all had "Hakuna Matata" in our heads for the rest of the day); a Harry Potter version of the board game Clue; a leash hanger printed with "did someone say 'walk'?" to hang on the wall; and a fluffy fox key chain.

Chris with his gifts.

Chris's goodies:

Sarah gave him a new iPhone as an early gift after he dropped his in water at Disneyland and couldn't revive it.

Dylan and Jake gave him an external hard-drive for gamers, so Chris will no longer have to delete some of his games when he wants to play video games with Dylan and Jake, just to have to reload them all again later.

Mark gave him a box of Hickory Farms cheese, sausages, and crackers.

I gave Chris a small, portable Bluetooth speaker to use when he listens to his Spotify playlists on his phone; and, because Chris is gradually turning his small office at home into a Den of the Dark Side, I also gave him some Darth Vader and Stormtrooper vinyl clings for the walls and small action figures of Darth Vader and Kylo Ren for his desk.

Mark's Christmas presents.

For Mark:

Sarah and Chris gave him a $20.00 Walmart gift card, attached to a big M&Ms milk chocolate bar.

Dylan and Jake gave him a small, portable Bluetooth speaker to use when he listens to his Spotify playlists on his phone. 

I gave Mark a Metallica "Ride the Lightning" tee-shirt; a wireless phone charger for Mark's cell phone, which Dylan pointed out is too ancient to work on a wireless charger (oh well, Mark will be getting a new cell phone in a few months anyway); a $10.00 Walmart gift certificate; and a 2020 Muscle Car calendar. Mark always has one hanging by his bed and faithfully changes it to the next muscle car photo each month.

My gifts.

For Mary:

Sarah and Chris gave me a sweet new Willow Tree figurine called "Love You." Love it!

Dylan and Jake gave me the Star Wars version of Monopoly. Can't wait to try it out!

Jacob told me he ordered my gift, but it won't arrive for another week or so. Wonder what it is!

Mark gave me an Angel Has Fallen DVD (I already own and love the first two DVDs, Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen); a $20.00 gift card for our local WME theaters (I love escaping into films); and a pair of pretty, dangly blue earrings.

Dylan, Sarah, Jake, and I played a round of Harry Potter Clue

after we got dinner prepped and into the oven to bake.

After opening our presents, we got started on dinner preparation. Jake prepped the baking pans with heavy cream and basil pesto while Sarah shredded the Parmesan cheese. I stuffed six chicken breasts with fresh mozzarella and Roma tomato slices, and then Jake filled the mozzarella's spaces with fresh, crushed basil. Dylan took care of spreading the French bread with garlic butter, baking it until perfectly crispy, and slicing it before dinner. It was a family affair. Well, except for Mark, who took a nap. He'd had to be up at 6:00 and at work from 7:00 to 11:00 on Christmas morning.

While the chicken baked, Sarah opened and assembled her new Harry Potter Clue game, and we enjoyed playing a round. The "plot twists" were fun. Instead of solving a murder, we had to solve the mystery of a missing Hogwarts student, who happened to be Ron Weasley this time around. We could earn House Points, and there's an extra die that can cause doors to various rooms to lock unexpectedly, move hidden passages around, or bring a dark mark down upon our heads, as well as provide magical spells and items that might help defeat these obstacles. It was challenging and a lot of fun. Oh, and by the way, I won!

Dinner is ready: Caprese Chicken!

Then the food was ready, and we took a break to enjoy our Christmas dinner. It was delicious! The only thing that could have improved it would have been to have both Jacob and Chris there with us.

Dylan prepared the garlic bread and sliced it up.

After dinner, we sat around a while and moaned about how stuffed we were and how we just wanted to sleep, but then we gave ourselves a good shake and took out Dylan's new game, Monopoly Gamer: Mario Kart. This was another fun twist on the original. We could still buy property, based on locations in the video game, but all the money was gold coins. We could also drop banana peels on the track to stop our opponents and use various power-ups in different ways. My favorite part was the cute game tokens: little karts driven by Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad. Apparently you can separately purchase more karts for the game, with other characters, from Bowser to Yoshi.

Dylan and I didn't do so well with this game. I was the worst, with no property and only six coins left at the end of the game. I'd won a single race (out of seven) and finished with 60 paltry points. Jake and Sarah were the big property owners--they really battled it out--but in the end, Jake won with 400 points!

Dylan, Jake, and Sarah (and me, too) play a game of Mario Kart Monopoly.

I have no idea what Mark was watching on TV in the living room beyond us.

At the end of our Mario Kart Monopoly game, Jake was the big winner.

By the time we'd finished our lengthy game of Mario Kart Monopoly Gamer, it was almost 7:00 and time for some brownies a la mode. It was so decadently, chocolaty rich that it was hard to finish even one single brownie! We were all ready to call it a night by 7:30, so everyone packed up their gifts and some leftover brownies (plus some chicken and garlic bread for Chris to enjoy when he got home from work) and headed home to sleep off our fudge-brownie carb-crashes.

Except for Jacob' absence, we had a great night. I hope everyone else out there enjoyed a Christmas Day filled with the fun of family and friends, warm memories of Christmases past, and hopes for the joys of Christmases future.

A closeup of the adorable little Mario Kart Monopoly Gamer tokens.