Christmastime in la Casa

Hello! 
I know, I know, I said I would get back on track with the blogging, but getting back home has been quite the ordeal! Finals week was insane, but at times fun. I mean we had to take study breaks! Favorite study break - going to see the lights at our local park with Hannah, Alyse, Tadd and Landon. Who knew you could get lost in a circle drive...L did! 
Not much has happened in my life recently worth blogging about, so I thought I would share some traditional Christmas happenings for our family!
Now I don't know if I've shared but my mother's side of the family is Mexican, and over there Christmas Eve is a bigger deal than Christmas day. Well, that means now, we have a huge Christmas Eve Feast, AND a Christmas Day get together! 

Buñuelos

Now, Mexican tradition includes tamales, buñuelos, Mexican spaghetti and a ham leg among other things. Well, my mom and I have the buñuelos and tamales done, but this year we are adding a little something new, with a creamy potato gratin and a sweet roasted vegetable side.

Tamales

 
















You may be wondering what Mexican spaghetti is, well its one of my favorite dishes ever, and all it really is is spaghetti with a special cheese sauce on it then baked so the top is gooey and all melted together, soooo good!  On Christmas Eve my mom finally lets us use the Christmas china that she's had set out on the dining table since after Thanksgiving, but hasn't let us use. (I'll post a picture in a few days, my camera is MIA at the moment) 




Anyway, we have a feast, literally, and then we all get to open one present.
My mom got smart a few years ago, and realized that opening one present gives us a little taste of the morning without giving away everything and it calms the younger ones down a little bit so we don't get woken up at like 5 in the morning because they can't wait to open presents! So she stole a tradition from our good friends the B's and now, every Christmas Eve we all get to open 1 present and its always the same thing, a pair of pajamas that we get to wear to bed and wake up wearing. That has to be one of my favorite traditions ever, and I know I'm going to continue it whenever I have a family. My dad then read the Night Before Christmas and we all get sent off to bed. 


So that's pretty much our Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, we wake up at whatever hour the kids can no longer wait to open presents and then we all go to the living room, sit under the tree, and my dad reads us the Christmas story from the Bible, then we pray, and only then can we open presents. After the wrapping paper massacre of the century, I have the wonderful job of making Christmas breakfast. And in case I haven't mentioned it, I love cooking! So the traditional menu has been, waffles, bacon, eggs, muffins, frittatas, potato hashes and biscuits and gravy, not all on one morning...usually. This year however, I can't seem to decide what to make, though I better soon, since my mom said I had to give her the grocery list today!
After breakfast, we all just spend time hanging out, and maybe napping, at least I definitely nap. In the afternoon, we usually get ready for our Christmas party up at the B's house, we all go up there, and much like Thanksgiving, spend the day exchanging presents between families, eating lots of good food and playing lots of games. No one has a greater love for board games, than this crew! 


That's pretty much the overview of our Christmas traditions! I'll post more afterward, with lots of pictures of our activities if I get a chance!