Boxing Day was the designated day for Kroll family Christmas celebrations. We all headed out to Mirani (with the exception of Linda and Lee, who are living there at the moment), and spent a lazy, relaxing day under Frank and Imelda's house.
It was hot and a bit sticky, but the boys kept cool in the little pool and slip'n'slide. That was after spending a good couple of hours in Ben-10 costumes. By mid-afternoon, I was trying to work out whether I could fit in the pool with the boys.
The boys were given a cool 10-in-1 game set from Santa (word has it that Santa took 4 hours to put it together and didn't get to bed until very late....). So there were a few games of pool and air-hockey. I took the Wii out (on Frank's request), and Lee took to Guitar Hero really easily. Mal and Linda, friends of Linda and Lee, came out later in the afternoon, and they joined in playing Wii Sports. Karen beat us all in the ten-pin bowling, and little Ben beat me in the tennis, but I say he cheated. Jason and I headed home before tea, and fortunately missed out on Singstar, which was inevitably going to be brought out.
Christmas morning, Jason and I were up a fair bit earlier than Ben (who was staying with us for a few days), so we weren't waiting, and opened up our respective presents and stockings. Jason bought me exactly what I asked for (with the exception of World Tour, but that was just wishful thinking). I'm pretty sure Jason enjoyed the contents of his stocking (see photo above).
The dogs received their new soft chew toys. While Sam took to his with great gusto, it seemed a little too early in the day to be overly excited for Jessie. It ended up that Sam much preferred Jessie's 'lamby', and I don't even know where his is.
Frank & Imelda came over for Christmas lunch. It was lovely to have only the five of us. Although Sam thought he deserved a place setting. We had red claw cocktail for entree, turkey mignon and couscous for mains, and chocolate self-saucing pudding for dessert. With the exception of not pre-defrosting the turkey, it all went off without a problem.
After our long lunch we all lazed around for a bit, and spent some time playing Wii Sports. I hadn't really played it much up until that day (distracted by Guitar Hero and Wii Fit), but it was lots of fun. Ben loved the boxing (and we had to keep reminding him to step back from the tv). Frank loved the bowling, and tennis is still my favourite. I ended up with a really sore shoulder the next day.Later in the afternoon Frank and Imelda left for home and Grandma came round for an early dinner, which neither Jason, Ben & I were ready for, given the amount of lunch we put away. I roasted some pork, and we had that with some roast vegies. After dinner we called Tamie and Daniel in Paris. It was great to hear her voice after a number of weeks, and I know Tamie was glad to hear someone else's voice, other than Daniel.
This year I made the decision to not put up our large Christmas tree. I wasn't in the mood, I don't usually have any help in putting it up or decorating it, and it's usually only me who appreciates the effort. So, I decided to stick with our little fibre optic number that I've had ever since leaving home. My other decorations consisted of a bit of a display along the front of the kitchen bench.
For our cards, and my photo decorations (usually hung on the large tree), I used some thick twine and really cheap wooden pegs. I really liked how it looked, and will definitely do this again next year. Our stockings (courtesy of Tamie last year), then hung from each end.
I wanted to hang a few icicle lights, and finally convinced Jason that hanging them along the top of the bifold doors was a good idea. Actually I don't know whether I really convinced him, but I started hanging them anyway.
The other tradition I started this year was 'wish lists' for Jason & I, where we could write down anything we might like for pressies. It was then up to the other person to go through the list, and decide what to buy. We could also give these ideas to family. After much coaxing, Jason finally filled out his list. He just didn't have as lofty goals as I did (an no I did not get Guitar Hero World Tour).
The other tradition I stuck to this year, was wrapping all our presents in brown paper, and then adding Christmas decoration and ribbon. I loved the sculpey trees that I used with our Christmas cards, so I decided to add that to the presents as well, using a slightly different tree stamp.
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