To sum up Christmas

Our Christmas was action packed, and full of family. Martin and I are fortunate to have some of both sides of our family here in Charlotte, so we get to see most of them at Holidays. It makes for quite a marathon, though.

Christmas Eve we had Manfred and Barbara over for the traditional Buteau Touche pie. This is a pie made of ground beef, ground pork, mashed potatoes, celery and onions. Not bad, but most of us like to eat it with ketchup. This is a tradition Martin has carried over from his mother's side of the family. Before dinner, the boys opened their gifts from Grammy and Grampy, and also the traditional Christmas Eve pj's and socks from us. This year's pj selection was "Moosin' around" from Old Navy. Thanks to Grammy and Grampy for all the wonderful gifts! Mason's favorite is a guitar- he provided the entertainment during dinner- "Okay, Ladies and genlemen- here we go- 1,2,3- Action!" followed by Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star "played" and sung on the guitar.

Late Christmas Eve night, Martin and I exchanged gifts. This a tradition I love, since we get to do it alone, and Christmas morning is so hectic now, with kids.

Christmas morning, we found that Santa had visited, and had left for Mason a Star Wars light saber building kit (per Mason's request), and a Star Wars Lego computer game- it was a Star Wars Christmas. Santa left Coen a book, and bath tub toys. Coen was actually more into it than we thought he'd be. It was fun.

I threw together a few recipes for Grandma's house, and we headed over. We swapped gifts with my family, and enjoyed a lunch of baked ham, roast, turkey, mac-n-cheese, broccoli casserole, biscuits, cranberry sauce, green beans, potatoes, and more.

After leaving Grandma's, the boys sacked out in the car, so we opted not to head over to Martin's stepbrother's. Coen is recovering from an ear infection, and brochiolitis, and since it was so rainy, and cold, and he hadn't napped, we thought it would be best for him to get home, and rest.

All in all, it was a great day. We missed those we didn't get to see (especially the crew at Rich and Laura's), and are so grateful we saw the ones we did.

For those of you who asked, here's my new Cheddar-Beer Spread recipe:

2 cloves of garlic, sauteed in olive oil, and chopped

1 block 8 oz. cream cheese softened

Approx. 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup beer

Combine all ingredients in bowl. It will be runny, but then pop it in the oven for approximately 20 minute at about 350 degrees, or until bubbly- give it a stir. I served it with beer bread that I chopped into cubes, tossed lightly with olive oil and pepper, and retoasted on broil in the oven. (Watch them so they don't burn). It's also really good served with tortilla chips or crackers.