I Give You...The Miller Family Christmas

I, much like Clark W. Griswold, have a tendency to build up holidays and other events in my mind until they reach "standards that no family event could possibly live up to" (Thanks, Ellen. Good talk.)  Sometimes, that leads to minor disappointments.  But not this Christmastime.

It was a wonderful weekend.  We were both excited for it, because it's the first year since Scott and I have been together that we've both had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, and had all five of our chilluns overnight for Christmas morning.  Our boys were still darn excited for Santa...Lots of family would be in town...and so I stubbornly insisted on hosting the big gathering (actually, nobody argued...but I'd have arm-wrestled for it if I'd had to!)

Andrew, Chip, & Scott

Everybody was over for Christmas Eve dinner - and though it was a little bit nutty in the pre-guest preparation phase (just like everything always is for me, given my insane overestimation of my last-minute sleep-deprived efficiency) everything came together fine.  We seven were joined by my parents from Idaho; my brother Brian and his fiancee Kelsey, who live here in town but whom we see far too seldom due to mismatched schedules; Scott's brother Chip and wife Nicole and adorable boys Spence & Chance from here in town also; Scott's brother Andrew and wife Brandy and adorable boys John and Matthew from Frederick; Scott's stepmom Leslie all the way from Boston; and our dear friend Rich who's as much part of the family as anybody.

Dad and Brian brought home-brewed beer... Brian and Kelsey made gourmet Wild Turkey Eggnog which would've kicked my ass if I'd had more than a few sips... There was a metric ton of food... The turkey didn't explode... miraculously we found seating for twenty-plus and through the modern miracle of Chinet and plastic flatware were able to serve everybody at once. Then mass chaos of gifting after dinner, added to the general mass chaos of having six hyperactive little boys in perpetual motion (and accordingly, with said little boys, three plunger-able separate occasions to proclaim "Merry Christmas! Shitter was full...")

And then it was time for Spoons.  I don't know how popular a card game this is out there in the rest of the world, but for Scott's family it's a time-honored institution.  It's kind of a cross between Slap Jack and Musical Chairs, with a cutthroat attitude - basically, a pile of spoons one less than the number of players sits in the center of the table, and players pass one card at a time clockwise until somebody ends up with three of a kind in their hand - and then it's on.  Everybody grabs a spoon, or tries to, but somebody doesn't get one and thus gets one strike...three strikes and you're out of the game.  One might imagine how someone with my slothlike reflexes dreads such a game.  But anyway, it gets ugly, as players lunge, dive, grapple and claw for spoons.  See??

And another...

All in all, it was a wonderful evening...and after bellyfuls of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cherry pie, coconut cream pie, Nicole's amazing Bailey's Cake, Russian tea cakes and PB&J cheesecake bites, everybody went their separate ways to await the arrival of Santa Claus.

And boy, did he hit our house.  The next morning was a frenzy of delight as the boys ripped into a huge stack of toys and the rest of us got spoiled too.  We ate some breakfast, and then Scott and I collapsed, having been up late the previous night making sure everything was prepped for when Santa came down the chimney...we napped for a few hours, then got up and ate leftovers, and were generally lazy for the rest of the day.  Kyle and Hayley left to go do Christmas at their Dad's; Steph, Maddie and Gabe left to go do dessert at their mom's boyfriend's house; Mom and Dad left to go spend some time at Brian and Kelsey's... and Scott and I snuggled on the couch and took a relaxing jacuzzi bath.

All things said and done, it was an amazing Christmas, everything I'd imagined it would be and then some - and I want to extend another 'thank you' to everybody who helped make it that way.  I feel incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful family; all of those who have been stuck with me since I was born, and all of those who have welcomed me and my kids with such open arms for the last six years.  I love you all so much.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!