This Christmas...

So, after that idyllic post about Christmas Eve, it turned out to be one of the more harried, stressful days of the year! First of all, we were just all grumpy from trying to cram Christmas fun into one weeekend. Friday night...shopping downtown and Canada Place; Saturday night...Christmas train at Stanley Park and Sunday night...Van Dusen Gardens. We must be slow learners....we know we pay when we keep the kids up! That morning, I got a little frustrated making the family Almond Roca recipe. The first batch was perfect, but I left the second one on the burner too long and it liquefied. The word liquefied is important in this story. You see, you can put liquids down the garberator(sp?). What I didn't think of, as I threw my candy failure down the drain, was that it would harden as it cooled. Oh, yeah, it hardened, because the next time I tried to use the sink, it transformed into a fountain, spurting water all over the counter. Mike came to help once he heard the frantic nature of my voice. The next few hours were spent under the sink trying to unclog the pipe. Everytime we thought we had unclogged it, the fountain returned. We made a call to a plumber friend who told us it was a job for roto-rooter, but not to call them until after the holidays unless we wanted to pay through the nose. I was very perplexed at that point, wondering how we were going to have everyone over without a working sink. "Christmas is cancelled" I announced to the family and went upstairs to pout. Meanwhile, Mike gathered some more tools and when I came down, he was fishing an old garden hose through the pipes. After another failure, he was standing over the sink, looking down at the water that wasn't draining, apparently praying for some kind of resolution. At that moment, Maddie flushed the toilet upstairs and the sink water started to vortex. I heard a sucking sound and hallelujah, the sink drained. We ran the tap for a good 5 minutes to be sure it was clear. Thank the good Lord for saving us big bucks and making our Christmas a little brighter!

Things got decidedly better after that. We went to the Christmas Eve service and enjoyed seeing the girls sing. It was a nice time of reflection and peace before the Christmas craziness. Then we went over to my aunt's with my cousin and her son. We enjoyed some food and presents there. Her family gift to us was a Wii which we've already had a lot of fun with!

Christmas morning we awoke to the sound of "He came!" Yes, Santa had come, eaten our cookies and milk and even left snowy footprints on our floor. He brought Chelsea the biggest littlest pet shop house and Maddie, the Game of Life and a dance mat. Mike and I didn't buy for each other this year as we've made some purchases recently for the house. We did have something to open though, because the girls had, on their own, crafted us gifts. They made Mike some little bookmarks and coupons for chores. They made me a lovely jeweled keychain with their beading kit. They had also made us some fun gifts with the help of Nana. I then got busy with preparing for our supper. We had 13 people including kids, so it was a nice crowd. I delegated out most of the veggies, so I just cooked the turkey, stuffing and potatoes. It was a really nice evening with family. The girls got cameras from their grandparents, so we've been photographed quite a bit between today and yesterday!

Mike needed some new clothes, so he braved the crowds at the mall this morning, while I stayed home with the girls and karaoked to their new Hannah Montana CD! Too fun! Now we're just relaxing and enjoying turkey dinner leftovers. I could really use a nap, so I might just indulge myself!