Christmas...The Rest of the Day

Happy Boxing Day, everyone!  (I always liked the way the British have of squeezing another holiday out of Christmas.)

Yesterday afternoon at 4:00, we headed over to our teammates the Koonces for our team Christmas party.  Louise is a great decorator and had spread a beautiful Christmas table (actually, several tables; there were 21 of us).  Our first order of business was the Christmas follies where each family was charged with entertaining the crowd in some way. These skits were performed on a stage—complete with curtains—set up next to the Koonces’ jungle gym. The Crowsons had come up with a “Guess-and-sing-that-Christmas-carol Pictionary-style game that was lots of fun (even though my team lost).  The Hollands & Sextons did a funny old West adaptation of the nativity story, while the Koonces entertained us with a Togolese version of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Trevor was really cute as “a bat in a mango tree.”  Not having an original bone in our collective bodies, our family performed a nativity skit from a Willow Creek production, Long Story Short. We discovered that the boys, especially Jonathan, are much better at remembering their lines than the old folks.

Following the obligatory team photo, it was back inside for food, glorious food.  The cooks on our team really put on the dog—I  should say, put on the turkey (that was actually moist!), dressing, cranberry sauce, potatoes au gratin, Mexican corn casserole, green bean casserole – pretty much the same things most of you ate.  Louise broke out some precious Millstone hazelnut coffee that  went great with the desserts.

Gift exchange was as chaotic as a it should be in a big family.  We all made out pretty well and enjoyed sharing with each other.

Of course, we were exhausted by the time we got home.  Today we are taking Stacey and Shannon down to the beach.  We plan to stay one night, while they will stay on until Thursday.  We’re trying out a new place that looks pretty nice, and the price is right.  Their full-color brochure advertises in English, “Come into your air-conditioned room, turn on the television, and you’re all set for a good night’s sleep!”

Hope your Christmas and Boxing Day are as much fun as ours!