What a privilege it is to gather around our family table that Jonathan and one of the children extended for Christmas holiday!
Christmas morning we had biscuits and gravy, and Sunday morning (above) we had oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup and bacon.
Christmas Day turned just a bit blue when Sam, still in Colorado, let us know that his wife Caitlyn was way too sick to travel, but they hoped to travel up later if she was better. Several plans went on hold. Instead of our main meal being at one, we made homemade pizzas instead.
Danny is checking out the sleigh driver in the vegetable sleigh train that Rose decided to make and I helped with.
We had to admit our snowman driver did not look too great, but oh, well. Maybe he was having a sick day, too!
Little Ellie entertained us royally!
Rose made sourdough bread and one of the girls formed cookies from the molasses cookie dough I had made the night before.
One meal was taco salad, and that day we got a large envelope in the mail from my nephew Ezra with our Morley clan photo calendar he puts together each year with all of the extended families' birth dates and anniversaries noted in it. Each month a different family of the nine families is represented, and the other three months this time had photos of the two newly wedded couples from this year, a photo page of my mother with grandchildren or great grandchildren, and other such things.
After the girls had done their due "ooh's" and "ahh's" it was my turn to look at it when I finally sat down at the table.
Ellie enjoys the bouquet of flowers Jonathan had bought me the day I had my PET scan. They still looked pretty for Christmas!
Jonathan smoked and roasted a prime rib roast given to us a couple months ago from a friend who was clearing his freezer for a new cow.
"Don't just put that in a crock pot!" he stoutly warned us. "That is a very expensive cut of meat!"
Believe me, we did not put it in a crockpot! We saved it and saved it and saved it until Christmas came.
Then instead of spending money on a ham or turkey, we decided it was time to eat this fantastic cut of meat that had been given us. Jonathan decided it must be worth somewhere between $120 and $200 at going price rates.
After Christmas Eve service, Jonathan drizzled the roast with some sort of sauce, having read instructions online.
And he was the chef for the meat for our Christmas dinner Christmas night.
Day after Christmas Sam and Caitlyn arrived in time for supper and we had more of our gift exchange. We had trimmed it to two gifts apiece to simplify matters for new couples, but I also planned a "practice" white elephant gift exchange with things I had around, and it was a blast. Next year we plan to trim even further to one gift apiece but to also have a white elephant gift exchange for fun.
Several mealtimes I served buffet style.
We had quite a line. Tom decided to ride an office chair through the buffet line at the kitchen counter!
Rose made this snowman cheese ball, with a special smaller one next to it for gluten-free crackers for Caitlyn. We enjoy making creative dishes to substitute for not making many sweets since so many had been sick.
The family table isn't just for meals. It's also for playing games!
This one was Blokus.
The family table is certainly a busy place at Christmas time!
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