Christmas delayed

Yesterday went so well, but too fast. The kids were here by 9, and we had our traditional Christmas breakfast of waffles and scrambled eggs and fruit salad, then I threw those dishes into the dishwasher and we did presents, very fun, although the baby slept through it. I wonder what she'll think of it all next year?

Then there was a rush to get platters set out. I'd put post-its on them the day before, so everyone could tell what went where, but we were still setting things out when the first guests arrived. I never took a photo of the table, alas, but it did look pretty. Everyone from my side came, and we were pleased that my DIL's cousin and his son came too, so there were seven kids under five, six girls and one darling boy! We had a great time trying for a photo of the four Moms with their six girls, and then Quinn climbed onto A's lap for some photos too.

After all the food we couldn't believe the kids wanted Chinese for dinner, but they did, so we had another jolly meal, and then they all left. Sigh. The girls were great at helping clean up, and there are only some platters that need to be done by hand.

The punch recipe I found was terrific! It's from the old Fanny Farmer cookbook, with a tea and citrus base. It's good by itself and also half-and-half with asti. I made one change, instead of plain club soda, I used Trader Joe's Sparkling French Lemonade. Quite tasty, everyone loved it, plain or otherwise.

So, a month of preparation for approximately ten hours of fun. I never counted the guests, about thirty or so, I think. One of my nephews commented that we are a good house for these family gatherings, being mid-way between the San Diego group and the LA group.

So now it's time to take down the Christmas tree, at last. It was so dusty it had cobwebs, and one of my friends suggested I just say it had been flocked. It didn't really feel like Christmas to me, the season has past and there's no recalling it, whatever that Christmas magic is just doesn't stretch another month. It's the same with its ever-earlier advent in stores. Just because there are Christmas decorations before Halloween doesn't make it Christmas. I guess the stars and the calendar bring Christmas, and then take it away again.