A Belated Christmas Eve

Yes, I realize that Christmas was almost a month ago, but as I was looking through the last pictures I was able to retrieve from my old camera, I noticed that I hadn't posted any pictures from our family gathering on Christmas Eve. I really wanted to post a few pictures of our evening and the delicious dinner our daughter prepared for our family.

For many years, part of our immediate family's tradition on Christmas Eve has included dear hubby and me preparing a prime rib dinner with all the extras, often including fresh king crab legs! While it is a great meal to enjoy on that night, the problem with this meal is that there is a lot that needs to be done at the last minute, and grammas and papas get tired after spending hours and hours in the kitchen. 

After our Christmas of "09," this gramma announced that she wanted to do things different the following year. I told everyone that I want my grandsons to remember Christmas as time spent with family, with their gramma and papa available to give lots of hugs and kisses, play with their toys, read books or anything else that is needed at the moment. When I am trying to get a meal on the table at just the right moment, that makes me too busy to take care of the small requests, like "Hold me Gramma," and too tired to have much fun after the meal is over. So, I determined then that we needed a new plan.

We tossed different ideas around during the year and our daughter and son-in-law decided that they wanted to have us all over for a Mediterranean Feast. It was an amazingly good meal! All the tastes and flavors are still a memory that I would like to have again before next Christmas Eve. The whole evening was so much fun, with lots of opportunities to give hugs and kisses, play with the boys, read books and play with their new toys.

Here are a few pictures of our family Christmas.

Ivan ready to start the evening

Wiley bringing out the "old" toys

Dear hubby and amazing son-in-law

Time for Dinner

Feta cheese, tabbouleh and tzatziki

Juicy California oranges

Yummy Salad

Rice and Bulgar wheatberry salad

Amazing marinaded chicken, pork and lamb

Time for a few presents

A pensive Wiley was asking me how Santa was going to know that he needed to come in the front door because there was a fire in the fireplace and he would get burned!

Ivan modeling his new shirt for gramma

Blowing kisses

The last picture from my CyberShot camera...