Christmas 2008

It came and went fast! I can't believe it's over. We will keep our tree up until the New Year, but it's weird Christmas came and went. It was fun, all the preparations I've been working on since Thanksgiving, but it's so hard to believe a month has gone by already! Anyway, here are the highlights, as I remember them.

Christmas Eve was the day we planned to celebrate Christmas with the kids this year so Trisha, Ben and the boys could open presents at their house Christmas morning, then go to Ben's parents and then to Trisha's dad's. I can just imagine all the scheduling that will have to be done when my other kids get married!

Christmas Eve day I got up, got showered and ready for the day. I knew it was going to busy, but I didn't expect the business to start as soon as I got up. Jeff was working, so I had to do the last minute running to the store and then back home to cook. Fortunately, the store wasn't too overwhelmingly packed, although it was busy. I knew what I had to get, so I just went in and got what I needed. The lines weren't horrible either, surprisingly for Christmas Eve!

I came home, did some picking up (I'm always amazed how fast the house gets cluttered!). I did have some time to relax before I had to start cooking, so I did just that. We were having a simple dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole, so I didn't have a ton of cooking to do. We also made Jesus a birthday cake and some brownies.

Trisha and the boys got here about 3:30 or so, and we started cooking. I got the ham ready, made the glaze and put it in the oven. While that was baking we put in "It's a Wonderful Life." I had never seen it before, so it was a real treat and made it feel all the more like Christmas.

Then we made the cheesy potatoes, the green bean casserole and the desserts. Jeff got home a little after 6, at which time we ate. Then after dinner we opened presents. Everyone got some nice things and things they were wishing for. We also got some nice surprises like scarves from Scotland from Jeff's parents and hand drawn pictures from Brandon!

Karlie got a new camera which she was hoping for, Kaleb got a book by Brandon Boyd, the lead singer of Incubus. Jeff got the Nooma videos he wanted and some books and cd's from Amazon. I got some Photoshop tutorials I wanted, and Trisha got some books as well. We only gave 3 gifts to the kids this year in keeping the focus on Christ.

Here are some photos of Christmas 2008 at the Lutz house.