We had our traditional Christmas Eve get-together on Friday night which went into Saturday’s wee hours. It was a potluck, and I made “Pumpkin Pasties” served with Cool Whip (I will put up the recipe tomorrow); my mom brought a baked ham; and my sister made amazing chocolate and butterscotch chip cookies (baked with Splenda).
Every year, one of us dresses up as Santa and distributes the gifts at midnight. Until then, we had plenty of activities to keep everyone busy. My cousin has a great little entertainment “nook” where he has reclining theater chairs where one can either watch TV, DVD’s or play video games. In the garage was a poker game and this year, my cousin added a Bingo game with prizes brought in by married couples.
For a long time it was my father who did the dressing up. When he passed away, we all took turns being Santa. I had my turn last year, which really confused my son. This year, it was my cousin-in-law, Robert. Once it hit midnight, Santa came down and the kids all went crazy because they knew it was time for the gifts! I love the picture of my husband and son sitting on Santa’s lap. I was amazed at Dominic’s ability to stay up late and keep up with the older kids. One of the last pictures of the night was of my great-aunt holding my son.
We arrived home around 3am, only to wake up by 8am so that Dominic could open up all his gifts. I’m always thankful that we can have a relaxed Christmas because all of the activities take place Christmas Eve. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
Photos of Santa with Deon and Dominic and my great-aunt taken by Phong Ladao. All others by Cyrillynn Chen.