Day 2312. Christmas! The day the kids had been waiting for had finally come! They got up early and opened the last door on all the advent calendars in the morning. At some point Randy got up to make breakfast for them, and at some point they went downstairs to play. Looking outside the window, you could see that it had snowed. It was the first white Christmas in 13 years in Vienna.
I got up around 11 am and went to the kitchen to get started cooking our Christmas meal which was lots of work. First I made the stuffing for the turkey, I put it into the turkey, then put the turkey into the oven for 4 hours. It was just under 4 kilos so rather small. Next I had to make the sweet potato casserole that I only make because of Randy who likes it so much. However, I was lacking vanilla as mine was old and unusable. I also saw that I only had two onions left. And so Randy decided to make a quick run to the grocery store. However, the grocery store was closing and wouldn't let him in. He returned home and left again - this time with Sammy who wanted to come along. They went the opposite direction but again, no luck, at two locations. So they were coming back. Randy dropped Sammy off at home as he was done going to the store and left again for another try but they were also closed. By that time it was nearly 2 pm when we he returned home. There were no more open stores on Christmas Eve. So I went to our neighbors and asked them, and they were able to give me the vanilla I needed for the sweet potato casserole. I was finally able to get started on it, and Tammy helped me smash the potatoes. I then put it into the oven where the turkey was already taking on a beautiful color.
The next item on my to-do list was to take the presents downstairs and arrange them under the tree. The kids were getting impatient to go downstairs and open them. It was 3 pm. After I had arranged them all, the time had finally come. I turned on Christmas music, and they all came downstairs, looking with excitement at the lit-up tree and the gifts under it. We sat down on the floor by it, and we talked about the significance of Christmas. Then we sang a few songs, and Tammy sang her own song to Jesus. We also prayed together. Sammy was very impatient and getting more so, trying to reach for presents a few times.
And then the time had finally come. As the youngest, Emmy was the one to go first. He picked a present to give to someone, then we all watched that person open it. Next, that person could choose a gift and give it to another person. Emmy was a little annoyed that he had to wait to receive a gift. One after another the gifts were opened, and there were a lot of happy faces. Grandma had added some gifts, like books and toys and crafts. Tammy also got a unicorn necklace with a T, and the boys bedding (soccer for Emmy, Mickey for Sammy). Emmy also got a hover soccer ball with goals he was excited about, and Sammy a Pumuckl and a walking and talking puppy. Randy and I received a trophy each that read "Best Mom/Dad in the world", besides drawings and homemade boxes. Tammy and Emmy had also made a picture frame at school that the school had put a beautiful picture of them into.
In the end, there were only three gifts left that each had one of their names on them. They were all the same size, and I had left them to the end on purpose. They could all open them at the same time. I knew it would be their hightlight, and I was right. There were open mouths and cheers of joy, and Sammy even kissed his new tablet which Emmy copied. It was a bigger and thinner tablet for schoolage kids. Their old ones had already broken screens and were in bad shape. They were very excited and wanted to use them right away but I still had to set them up.
They were getting hungry so I went upstairs to finish cooking our festive meal. They had all had sandwiches for lunch. I cooked the rice with peas and took apart the turkey and put it onto their plates, together with the stuffing and the casserole. Then we sat down to eat. It was about 5:30 pm. The food was absolutely delicious.
After having eaten, the kids were playing with their new gifts while I was setting up their tablets. Then they went into the bathtub, and after that we continued with the advent calendar book we hadn't finished yet. Some time after 8 pm they went to bed. Thankfully Tammy was so much better, with hardly any fever and only a sore throat. But as for me, after nearly a week and antibiotics, I still have intense toothache. I enjoyed a quiet evening and started working on the pictures late. I went to bed late and then I could not sleep because of my tooth hurting so much. I took pain medication but it took a while to have an effect. It was about 4 am before I finally fell asleep with Emmy already right next to me.
