Christmas Update: Christmas Eve I stayed in the kitchen most of the day. It was a first for me and I felt very natural :) The turkey came out of the buttermilk brine, I cleaned it, buttered, salted, and peppered it... and stuffed ONLY apples and oranges inside. Tony doesnt like stuffing so I made that separately. The turkey went in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. I peeled, cut-up, and boiled my potatoes for mashed potatoes. Boiled, peeled, split, and stuffed the eggs with guacamole instead of the traditional yolk filling. Made my first macaroni salad. Made my first green-bean-cassarole. Put together the stuffing in a separate pot. I made a cheesecake pie, 2 chocolate flans, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Took the turkey out and, luckily, not a minute later - because the meat was falling off the bones. Even the light meat was insanely juicy!!! I funneled out the juices from the turkey while Tony sliced it all and made my very first turkey gravy. I didnt have to add any spices to it because the broth was, seriously, the best I had ever tasted. I cant even explain it!! The Ham was the last to go in for warming. We brought in the big table from the garage and set it up in the living room where the tree is and the kids set the table. I plated everything and forgot the rolls in the oven.... :-/ But no one seemed to miss them because dinner was soo good. It was my first time really cooking an entire turkey dinner. It was soo cool :). So fulfilling. Tonys Mom and Sister came down from Ocala and spent this time with us. We were so happy to have their love spend this special Christmas Eve with us. We all then went to church for the childrens service time. It was soo cute!! The kids, literally, ran the service. From the youth band, to a youth skit, to a kid friendly message - to the kids singing in the final hymns... it was just beautiful and hard to keep tears back. We came home and put the kids to bed and power wrapped everything. It was insane. Can I please send myself a message now and say - PLEASE WRAP BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE NEXT YEAR!!! Geez. The good news is that we were still in bed before midnight. Christmas morning - I woke up and made everyone pancakes. The kids were so cute on how anxious they were to open presents but so happy to eat pancakes :). We all finished up and all sat around the tree and opened presents. Mommy and Daddy couldnt be happier with how everything turned out. I think the absolute cutest reaction was when Logan opened up his box that had a stuffed vulture and quail in it. It was as if he said YAY!!! I always wanted these!!!. He then got up and grabbed all of his stuffed animals around the house and started gathering his alphabet line :). What other kid would be happy to receive a stuffed Vulture and Quail? It completed his alphabet with all the stuffed animals in the house. The kids got their WiiU Disney Infinity game with their own characters. They love it!! Christian and Kaiden got their lego sets with a learning chess set game and a multi-board chess set... while the girls got their new lalaloopsy doll additions. It truly was a great Christmas for the kids. We then went over to Granny and Grandpas house and extended warm family loving time with food, fun, laughter, and warm hugs. It was awesome. Came home to go to bed. Mommy sort of fell into bed and couldnt move. This morning - Abuelo and Abuela came up from Miami and spent most of the day with us. I made a turkey soup with the carcass of the turkey from Christmas Eve. It turned out - AWESOMELY!!! My biggest accomplishment this whole season??? I passed the flan test with the ultimate flan experts. They tried my chocolate flan and my teacher said she liked it better than her own!!! That is huge!!! I PASSED!!!! :) We love having our Miami family up and hope to see much more of them in the very near future :). Now, Daddy is at work - DJing at a Ice Skating rink and took Christian and Kaiden with him. They should be home around 1am. My house is quiet and clean and awaiting for Eleni, Logan, and Chloe to fall asleep. Mommy is going to lay down very soon too. Just catching up on some email / text / messages. It has been an amazing couple of days... and yet I cant help but be a little down that it is all over. It seemed to all have happened so quickly and so go-go-go!! That I look around now and cant help but feel sadness that its no longer right around the corner but just passed a block ago... Thank you, God, for sending us your only son - the ultimate gift. We are so thankful for your love and compassion for our family. Please bless those that celebrate in your name and remember the truest gift of all and carry it into the year to come. We have so much to be thankful for and I wish more than anything that I could hug your neck and say Merry Christmas!! But I hug and love those that you have put in my life with your love. Thank you. We love you. Always. #MerryChristmas #WeAreGodsFamily #Mommy #ILoveMyFamily
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 02:41:28 +0000