Christmas Traditions : Christmas Day

Get ready for lots of pictures...

We always spend Christmas morning at my patent's house opening presents from Santa.  When we were younger, my Grandparent's always came over for brunch and we would get to show off our new presents.

The giraffe is from my sister

Now that we're older, the traditions have to change to accommodate more people.  We opened a couple presents, ate breakfast, and opened the rest of the presents.

"If I could talk I would say I love my uncle Rob Dob!"

... she really does love her uncle Rob Dob

My grandmother (mom's mom) cross-stitched all of these stockings for us.  My mom has taken over for her and has made the stockings for the last year or so.  Cora got one of the original ones that was my mom's stocking growing up making it extra special... AND it's special because it was stitched by her grandma (the name) and her great grandma.

Cora and I hung around my parent's house for the day playing with her new toys and getting a nap in.  While Cora napped, I prepped a little for the dinner.

Christmas dinner with our extended family was at my parent's house and is more casual than our Christmas Eve event.  We just hang around, enjoy some hors d'oeuvres and drinks for a couple hours before the meal, share what Santa brought us, and watch some of the kids play with their new toys.  I didn't get any pictures, but I had a great time.  Cora was partied out so she spent a small portion of the party sleeping.

Christmas Traditions : Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always exciting because it is the night before Santa comes and we get together as an extended family to do a formal Christmas dinner.

Growing up, we would dress up, go to church, then go over to my Grandparent's house and have dinner and presents.  My grandma was always good at throwing a party.  We always had potato sausage and stayed up well into the night opening presents.

In the last 7 or 8 years the tradition has changed a little.  We go to my Aunt and Uncle's church where the kids put on a Christmas play (short & sweet while still getting the message across).  Instead of going to my grandparent's house, we went to my Aunt and Uncle's for the meal and presents.

We do a draw with the adults that are out of college.  This speeds up the present portion of the night so we are no longer out until one in the morning.  Cora enjoyed hanging back with me and Ben and observing all of the craziness going on.

She was wiped by the end of the night.  She fell asleep walking from the party to the car (probably 50 ft) and slept great that night.

Christmas Traditions : Potato Sausage

My family is pretty big on traditions around Christmas time.  We already had this years sock party about two weeks ago (we exchange socks in a white elephant fashion) and we had our Potato Sausage making party on Saturday.  My grandpa used to make the potato sausage for the family every Christmas and we took over probably 10-15 years ago.  We headed over to my aunt and uncle's house and spent the morning making potato sausage.

1. Cuddle with baby - This is my Godmother (aka the potato sausage boss)

2. cut up a bunch of potatoes and onions (blurriest picture ever)

3. grind all of the potatoes and onions

4. mix in meat + spices (it is not the most appetizing looking food)

6. stuff sausages... don't forget to poke holes so they don't burst

7. Relax while sausages are boiling (this is where we usually have lunch... Skyline!)

8. Go home and take lots of naps