Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!



As y'all can see, I didn't put up our nine foot tree, I put up a tiny little three foot tree on a table. But, at least it's up and the house looks a little festive.

I have been getting some Christmas goodies done today. I am truly sick of smelling sweets. I have made: peanut butter fudge, peanut butter balls, dipped pretzels, Neiman Marcus $250 cookie recipe, and the cake is cooling for the coconut cake.

Tomorrow, I am making an easy meal of potato cheese soup, rolls (store bought) and ambrosia. I will hopefully get some boiled custard made, too. Mark loves it. It's his mom's recipe.

Christmas day I will make a roast and various other things,

Lauri and her family will arrive the day after Christmas. I can't wait to see them.

Blessings and Merry Christmas!
Debbie

5 comments:

Hope said...

Your house looks gorgeous! I'm sure it smells delicious as well. I'm so glad you get to spend time with Ms. Lauri.

I love you, Merry Christmas!
Hope :)

Graham said...

Merry Christmas, Debbie and family! And please send me the boiled custard recipe. I love custard! Love you, Danna

Leah-Joy said...

Your house looks like loads of fun and I hope that y'all have a blessed CHRISTmas!

Briony C said...

Your house definitely looks very Christmassy on the inside. I wonder how it looks on the outside? The American custom of decorating houses in fairy lights is catching on a bit in New Zealand. Some houses have even become showpieces, and our local newspaper has the "Christmas Lights Spectacular", which lists houses to go to if you want to see Christmas lights. Not every house which lights up does enter this event, but if you like walking and driving around you may find them.

Because of different time zones, our Christmas Day is over now at the very moment you must be celebrating yours. It felt weird to think that while it was approaching midnight on Christmas Day New Zealand it must be heading up to midnight Christmas Eve United States, and kids would be keeping awake for Santa!

My Christmas pinata went off very nicely. I was a bit worried when it seemed I had made the pinata a bit strong; it was a stubborn beastie and while the family were making dents and holes and grabbing the occasional chocolate coin which fell out, nobody seemed to be able to break the pinata open! Eventually we even broke the wooden sword we were using on the pinata, which was pretty funny. But now the broken sword had a wooden edge, the pinata could be skewered!

Everybody loved the pinata and they want another one next year. But next year I will have to try to make the pinata a bit weaker and find something else to break it with.

Because our family has grown, the number of presents under the tree has swelled to such proportions it is staggering. For the first time ever I was buying presents for a baby, and for the first time since I was a baby Mum was buying a baby Christmas presents. The baby's name is Aidan and he is the first addition to our extended family. Aidan looked so cute in his little Santa hat, and he couldn't stop chewing the toys we gave him. I guess that shows his appreciation. We will have to think about what to give him next Christmas, when he is heading toward the toddler stage.

Because New Zealand celebrates Christmas in summer our Christmas fare goes for summery dishes. We still carry on British traditions such as roast turkey, ham, Christmas pudding and Christmas mince pies, but we also have barbecues, salads and light summer desserts. Our Christmas lunch included Christmas ham, salads, trifles, chocolate mousse and icecream. Plus the chocolates from my pinata, which I divided into bags for everyone to take home afterwards. I wonder if they have all disappeared yet?

Debbie B said...

Briony,

I will try to get out tomorrow night and take pictures of houses that are decorated on the outside. We didn't do any lights on the outside this year. I just hung a wreath on the front door.

We have had a nice day. I'll blog about it later.

Danna (Graham), I'll email you the boiled custard recipe. It's microwave one! It's easy.

Hope and Joy,
Thanks for saying sweet things about the decorations. Post some Christmas pictures on your Blogs. Tell your momma hello. I am dying to hear more news on the adoption!!!!

I hope all y'all are having a wonderful day!!

Blessings,
Debbie