Here's a photographic run-down of our Christmas.
I did 4 volunteer shifts (4 hours each) with the Salvation Army Christmas kettles. I did Walmart, Giant Tiger, Sobeys and the liquor store. The Walmart shift was, of course, the most interesting.
Mackenzie helped me with the Giant Tiger shift. He said "I love doing the Christmas cuddles!" LOL
Mackenzie's judo club held a Christmas Party, and they did a really great job!
We found a tree farm here on the Island where we could cut our own. We decorated it the week after we cut it.
Mackenzie's Christmas Concert
After all the parties and concerts, I finished my "baking".
Santa came!
On Christmas morning, Mackenzie woke me up at 4:45. I sent him back to bed, and then realized we had no power! I checked the Maritime Electric website on my (only half-charged) phone and it said there were no reported outages. I called, and they sent someone out to fix it. They arrived at 6:30, and had it fixed shortly after. In the mean time, we had a candle-lit breakfast of home made cranberry-orange muffins.
Santa brought Mackenzie's most-wanted gift... A Nintendo DS!
This one just made me laugh. My mom wrapped a gift for Mackenzie in a Strongbow box... and he thought that's what it actually was! Maybe Blaine and I drink too much Strongbow?Nah...
Mackenzie's Aunt Paula got him an autographed copy of Chris Hadfield's latest book. I actually squealed and clapped my hands when he opened it. I MIGHT have also grabbed it from him.
Second best gift... in my opinion. I want to learn to play them too.
Christmas Day meant warm apple cider with brandy for me while I cooked my Outlander-inspired dinner.
First was the bread. I am always happy when I get a chance to use my ulu.
One loaf of honey-oatmeal bread, and twisted parmesan and pepper breadsticks.
Supper was pork tenderloin with a cider sauce, hassleback potatoes, roasted carrots, and breadsticks. Dessert was hazelnut torte with a browned butter brandy glaze. It is absolutely the best meal I've ever made.
After supper we watched a movie.
And Mackenzie fell asleep while reading. A boy after my own heart.
My mom and Scott came on Boxing day.
Our gift from mom was this antique armoire for our entry way. I am SO happy with it... our entry way was usually a disaster, but now we can hide our mess behind closed doors.
I spent some time clearing off my to-sew list... hemmed 5 pairs of Blaine's jeans.
Molly got a special Christmas treat... she was allowed to sit on the couch with us.
Mackenzie and I played his new Battleship game. We're not sure who won... we thought he did, but when I checked to see where that last ship was, it was somewhere I already guessed, so we called it a tie.
And to finish off, here's a video of some Christmas Joy.
