Christmas Eve

Christmas was wonderful. All of the siblings managed to get together, and we enjoyed our annual "fondue" dinner. This year we had a "sort of" fondue dinner, using a griddle to cook the meat quickly, and melted chocolate drizzled over fruit. Apparently, El Paso grocery stores don't order in much of the ingredients needed to make fondue, or understand what kind of assistance we needed. ("What do you mean you want me to slice your beef into small pieces?") We were all still as happy as clams.

Picture #1: Smile, everyone:

Picture #2: Jonathan--would you please give me a normal pose for the camera? (Notice David didn't get the memo)

Following dinner, we joined mom and dad on skype to complete the rest of the evening where we read the following traditional stories:

• The Little Black Lamb. My mother's family also read this one every year, and you can read it here.
• Timothy Thomas. Another classic from my mom's childhood. This poem is about a little boy who is so good that people wonder if he's feeling well. Don't worry--Christmas morning, round about 10, young Timothy Thomas turns normal again.
• The Christmas Story. Luke 2.

FINALLY, it was gift opening time. As children we used to open a gift the night before Christmas of our choosing. Things have changed a bit, but the new tradition still traces back to our childhood when "Mistress Mouse" would come and check on us during our naps. If we were good and went right to sleep, Mistress Mouse would leave a note for us with a penny taped to it. She no longer visits us during our naps, but instead brings a children's book for us each year. This year's book was extra special. It is called Choco Goes To Peru, and was written by my mother. She used a monkey puppet to document my parent's travels as mission presidents. Choco learns lots of wonderful lessons in the book including the power of prayer and the value of scriptures. Choco also shows us around Peru in a section called "Where's Choco", and shows us all around the market. It's a fantastic book.

David showing pictures of the book to Abby on Skype while mom reads a portion to us.

The kids were soon off to bed, and took precautionary steps to ensure that they wouldn't "forget" to go into the living room early. Camille found a motion detector alarm which would trip if the kids came within a few feet of it. The kids decided it was best to put tape across their doors, although there was plenty of hallway for them to walk in without setting the alarm off. I just wish I hadn't forgotten to take a picture!