Dec. 25: Christmas Day

Christmas Day

We were very excited to share a typical Christmas at our house with the boys. When we were all up, we opened the stockings together. Then we went upstairs for breakfast. Kayley and I had set the table the night before. We like to make it fancy for the occasion, and we put out a red tablecloth and decorations. We used our Christmas dishes. I made cinnamon rolls from scratch, which is what our family always eats for Christmas breakfast. When I was growing up, we always had pineapple upside down cake, which is a German tradition.

Alex, who said that Santa does not visit Nigerian children, was very excited that he got a stocking FULL of chocolate!

So was Jer!

After breakfast, we opened our gifts. We like to have the youngest children pass out all the gifts. Once the tree is empty (our tree gets so many gifts under it that I have to hang a bunch of presents IN the tree!), we go around the circle and take turns opening gifts, sharing with everyone what we got and who it came from. This took until 11:00, and we started working on dinner then.

Our twelve foot tree. We put traditional ornaments on it this year so that the boys could see what a typical American tree looks like.

The girls were very excited to receive some of their toys back that they had gotten taken away for being naughty...

 Jamo...

Jer is excited...

What could this be?

Kayley with some of her loot...

Dad got a tray from Egypt!

Alex really loves his new soccer shirt!

The girls were very excited about their dresses from Egypt! What a special treat!

Mom got a very special jewelry box from Jer from Egypt...

...and a very special wallet from Alex from Nigeria!

We reset the table with our Christmas dishes and set up a buffet on the bar. We had turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn casserole, rolls, and homemade apple pie for dessert. It was truly wonderful having all of the kids home at the same time!

Kayley's decorations

I have no idea where this tradition originated! An old tradition is that 2 members of the household break the wishbone. This is a bone that the birds have that people don't. It is located near their ribs. The tradition goes that you each hold part of the wishbone and make a wish. Then, you break the bone. whoever gets the larger knob at the top supposedly gets their wish granted. Alex won, but ironically, Jer got his wish!!! (More on that later!)

Alex had shared a couple of days ago that in his family they get up at 3 in the morning on Christmas to make food to share with the neighbors. We told him last night that we were going to honor his tradition and celebrate by getting up at 3! He did not think that was funny!!! I, however, thought it was hilarious! After giving food to the neighbors they go to church and then come back home and eat lunch. A traditional dinner would include fried rice & chicken. A dessert of chim chim is typical, too. Chim chim is similar to beignets or sopapillas, only small, like popcorn. After that they go see family members that they haven’t seen for a few months. They open their gifts on Christmas Eve. He said that they usually get clothes and shoes to wear on Christmas as a gift.

For the Coptics, Jermaya said that they don’t celebrate Christmas on the 25^th. They celebrate on Jan. 6 (their Christmas Eve) by going to church. On Christmas Day (Jan. 7), Jer said that they get up in the morning and open gifts after eating breakfast of hot chocolate or milk and tea and eat fancy cookies called langshire. These are hard cookies with jam in them. They then spend the day with friends at the amusement park. They eat a lot of junk. He said that he usually eats so much that he throws up! They spend time with their families later on in the evening. They go to their grandmother’s house, eat again, then go hang out with friends. A typical Christmas meal would be similar to spaghetti pie, in addition to steak, baked turkey, and Caesar salad. Then at 7:00, they go back to grandmother’s again, and eat some more. (And throw up more!)

The afternoon was spent playing with our new toys and cleaning up. We had leftovers for supper and watched a movie together.

Dec. 24: Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

We mostly hung out today. The kids went to Burlington to do some last minute shopping. Krys stayed home and prepped up for Christmas Day.

The girls wrote letters to Santa. This is Kaydey's. We also left some double chocolate chip cookies for Santa on this plate.

We went to church in Denmark.

The girls put out reindeer food!

Dec. 23: Yet Another Christmas

Yet Another Christmas

On Dec. 23, Krys's mom and dad came down to Fort Madison to celebrate Christmas with our family. The twins were missing last weekend during all of the festivities because they were visiting their biological grandparents. We had decided to let them go because we knew it was going to be hard on them last weekend with a 6-8 hour car ride as well as the hours at the graduation.

The boys got to witness another landmark- Lynney & Peyton got engaged! They went to Chicago after graduation and he proposed there, down on one knee. We are very excited for both of them, and eager to call Peyton our son.

We enjoyed a traditional American Christmas dinner of ham, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn casserole, green bean casserole, and apple pie and pumpkin pie for dessert. Of course, we also had a decadent snack tray with baclava, coconut macaroons, kringla (a tradition in our family from Germany, where Krys's dad was stationed), gingerbread cookies, and honeycakes (also from Germany).

After dinner, we opened gifts.

Krys's dad, a skilled woodworker, built this Four Across game for the twins.

Krys's mom knitted the boys hats in Fort Madison colors.

The twins got pink and purple mittens!

Grampa Bob & Jer showing off their magic skills!

The boys in their vegetative state!

Dec. 21: A Couple of Traditions

A Couple of Christmas Traditions

The first tradition is a silly one. I always save all the rolls from the wrapping paper so we can have  sword fight! This year, I let the boys & little girls play while I shot film!

Another Christmas tradition in our family is that we like to make a gingerbread house each year. For those of you not in the know, gingerbread is a type of cookie with lots of spices. It is made with molasses as well, and is dark brown and chewy with a distinctive flavor. Gramma Judy always makes us gingerbread men. We like to buy a kit and get our gingerbread house pieces already made! We assemble the house with royal icing (a special kind of frosting that dries hard as a rock) and then decorate with frosting and candies. Here is our gingerbread village in progress this year.

Kayley & Kaydey

Karley

Dec. 20: Another Christmas

Christmas in Mitchellville

After the graduation dinner, we went to Mitchellville to Dan & Cathy's house. Dan is Krys's only sibling. Our crew was there as well as Cheyenne (Cathy's daughter), Derek (Cheyenne's husband), and Scarlett (their 4 month old daughter).

Playing with Levi, Dan's dog.

Redneck family Christmas: Almost everyone got knives for Christmas. It was hilarious! Dan and Cathy gave the girls & Jamo fancy hunters' pocket knives, and Bob & Judy gave out cooking knife sets. Alex & Jer got candy and water bottles, because they were afraid they wouldn't be allowed to take the knives back to Africa. Back row: Derek, Jer, & Dan.

Not sure why Alex isn't in here!

Left to right: Dan, Cathy, Scarlett, Cheyenne.

Bob, Alex, Dan, Jer.

Dec. 20: Graduation

ISU Graduation

The boys had the unique opportunity to attend a university graduation. We all trekked up to Ames to see Lynney & Peyton (Lynney's boyfriend) graduate from Iowa State University. We drove 2 hours to Oskaloosa and picked up my parents, Bob & Judy, and then headed to Ames. We ate lunch at Noodles (yum) and then went to Hilton Coliseum for the big event. The graduation went from 1:30 to about 4:00. Afterwards, we went to Legends for dinner.

Krys's mom and dad singing the school song. Bob graduated from ISU in 1963, and Judy attended there as well.

We had the honor of listening to Simon Estes, world reknowned opera singer, for 2 songs: "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Climb Every Mountain".

Letting the confetti poppers go at the end.

Peyton & Lynney

Krys, Lynney, & Jim

Dec. 13: Wrestling & Service

Wrestling

Jamo at his tourney this morning. He earned 2nd place. :)

The boys helped out at a Caroling for Cans Girl Scout event today. They spent 4 hours helping 30 girls make crafts and collect canned goods for the food pantry. Good job, boys!

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