It's Christmas!

We always spend Christmas Day with my family. Usually, we go to my mom and dad's house, but since they've both been working so hard this season, Shawn and I volunteered to do dinner at our house.

In an ambitious moment, I decided to cook a whole turkey with stuffing made from scratch. I had a delicious recipe for apple chestnut stuffing that I had successfully made a few years before. Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to go shopping and the store was out of chestnuts! I substituted walnuts because a) they're delicious and b) they're so finely chopped you can't tell anyhow. Right?

Shawn and I arose at the crack of dawn to chop and chop and chop ingredients for the stuffing. It took a little longer than expected and the turkey (which we named Trevor) went in a little late. Luckily, he cooked quickly and came out nice and juicy.

My mom, dad, and sister came over around 1:00 PM to eat. I got to use my fancy wedding china for the first time ever. Yes, that's right, we've been married for four and half years and I've never actually used my wedding china! Part of the reason is that I only have five place settings and I rarely have fancy dinners with less than five people. Sadly, the pattern was discounted by Mikasa two years ago, so now my only hope of completing the set will be through eBay.

After dinner the five of us played some games. We tried Family Feud, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Price Is Right, and Wheel of Fortune. Shawn and I totally destroyed my mom and dad at Wheel of Fortune, but Mom killed us at The Price Is Right because she's super lucky.

The five of us had agreed not to exchange gifts, but Shawn and I got little gifts for each of them anyhow. I always get my mom and sister ornaments for their Christmas trees. I also made a fleece scarf for my sister and one of those no-sew fleece blankets for my mom. It had cute cat patterns on it and she seemed to like it a lot (almost as much as she likes cats). My dad got some gift certificates for bowling and a book on Abraham Lincoln.

We both had a nice time with my family and I really enjoyed being the Christmas hostess, even though my recipe choices gave me a little more trouble than I thought they would. It turned out to be a great Christmas!

-- Lisa