Merry Christmas

We left California on Christmas Eve afternoon and landed in Kansas City at 9:45 p.m.  It was 10:30 when we left the airport and we were starving.  A quick call to the Minsky's Pizza on Barry Road confirmed that they were open until 11:00 p.m so we enjoyed a half mushroom/half pepperoni as our late Christmas Eve dinner.  It was almost midnight by the time we reached the mission house in Lee's Summit.

Thanks to Steve and Terisa making a HyVee run for us and stocking the frig, I was able to make Stephen and Jon's favorite breakfast on Christmas morning: bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy.  

Stephen left for West Plains before lunch; Jon and I joined the McKinney side for lunch at my sister's house.  The spread included ham and smoked turkey, plus side dishes and salads too numerous to mention.    

After lunch we played cards and worked on putting together a 1000-piece puzzle.  

Late afternoon, we finally moved into the living room and exchanged the gifts under the tree.  Jon's gifts had a decided Royals bent.

We finished off the gift exchange and headed back to the game tables!  It took most of the night, but we did finish the puzzle.  My dad even played cards with us until midnight!  

Christmas Cooking and Sewing

Living in El Salvador has drastically cut down the amount of Christmas cooking I do--after all, Christmas cookies just aren't very portable.  Before we took the trip to Panama, I made cranberry pear butter (like apple butter, but not apple) to share with friends.  Tuesday, I made saltine toffee (recipe) and strawberry cookies (recipe) and today I'm taking a tray full of both to the church office.  Hopefully, everyone likes things that are sweet, because the toffee is the definition of sweet.

I started my Christmas sewing about a month ago, but it's still going to come down to the last minute.  I made 30+ miniature fabric trays (pictured below) using Christmas fabric I ordered in August.  I've given almost thirty of them away to my Bible study ladies, our IDEM group ladies and more.  

I also finished the sewing gift for my three grandkids.  (Not going to put a picture because their parents may read this and I want it to be a surprise.) 

I'm making two quilted table runners.  One of the tops is done and the other is still in pieces.  The fabric for the border, backing and binding is on it's way to California, so I'll have to find time to finish them when I get there.  If not, they'll be after Christmas gifts and will be ready to decorate the house for Christmas 2016.  That's just the way it goes when I don't have access to everything I need.

Two more days to get everything done before we fly to California--my "to do" list has never been longer.

Christmas in February

We celebrated our California Christmas on Thursday, February 6, without a tree and most of the other trappings, but it really didn't matter.  There was still paper ripping, happy screams, picture taking and more.  

McKinney Kind of Christmas

We went to  my sister's house for lunch on Christmas day and what a lunch it was:  various dips/appetizers, ham, cheesy potatoes, mixed veggie casserole, cherry fruit salad and hot rolls. All of this plus a couple of trays of cookies and a pecan pie for later.

Gift exchange time is always fun with the bulk of the packages going to Dad, the girls (our nieces) and Jon.  Dad's treats tend to be of the edible variety and most are very sweet.  He unwrapped three different kinds of chocolate covered cherries.  Note that I say "unwrapped," not opened because there's never an expectation that he will share the bounty.  

The best part of the day is the after dinner/gift game time.  As usual, Dad, Stephen, Bruce and Jon went straight to the round table for their traditional game of Hearts.  We know better than to bother them during this time.  The rest of us play the less competitive group board games.  This year it was In a Pickle, followed by MadGab.  

It was a great Christmas!