We had another great Christmas day topped off by a wonderful Turkey dinner courtesy of Paulette. The excitement of the day was an unexpected noon snowfall on the Malahat highway which almost prevented our daughter Carrie from making it home. After a quick look at the Malahat Webcam I figured I’d seen and driven in worse so I drove down to Victoria to get Carrie and bring her home.
A bit of excitement as I drove over a snowy Malahat to get Carrie
It was slow going towards the Malahat Summit as cars were backed up and going very slow in single file mode. Luckily, no one tried anything stupid and even though the normal 30 minute drive took over an hour it was o.k. I picked up Carrie and by the time we reached the Summit on the way home the snow had turned to rain and the road was bare and wet – all was good. Carrie slept over so there was no concern about going back home at night.
Now how in the world did I end up peeling potatoes?
Work, work, work my fingers to the bone! Early yesterday morning Paulette recruited me for a bit of K.P. duty in the form of peeling potatoes. There was a big bag of spuds in front of me and when I asked how many potatoes to peel, Paulette said “the whole bag”!! I managed to get the job done without cutting off any fingers.
The table was all set early in the day
Just before noon, Maggie and Toby arrived and brought along a couple of friends from Australia – Nick and Emma. They live in Vancouver now after emigrating from Australia about 2 years ago. We were thrilled to have them join us as we were down a few of our kids this year due to travel and work requirements. We did manage to connect with Erin, Hayley and Jessica by phone though. Kevin had to work Christmas Day but did come up for a visit on Christmas Eve.
Toby and Emma enjoying lunch
While I was peeling potatoes, Paulette was busy preparing lunch. I’m glad we were having a late dinner because lunch was a pretty big meal including homemade chili, nachos and buns. It wasn’t long after lunch that I had to make the trek down to Victoria to pick up Carrie so she wouldn’t miss out everything.
Left to right: Emma, Carrie, Nick, Toby
When Carrie and I got back home just after 3pm, it was time for us to relax in the living room and exchange a few gifts. It was great fun as usual and everyone agreed that Santa Claus had done his best job in years and years!
What a meal!
Paulette’s Christmas dinner was simply amazing. We had Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, baked pecan sweet potatoes, broccoli bake, peas, carrots and an Icelandic tradition – fruit salad with whipped cream. Paulette’s heritage is Icelandic and this fruit salad with whipped cream, although a dessert in my books, has been a regular staple of all our Christmas dinners.
Nick, Emma, Maggie, Toby, Carrie, Paueltte, Rylie!
Lunch was terrific but dinner was even better. Somehow, we all managed to try a bit of everything. After a bit of a break, Paulette brought out dessert – Pumpkin Pie and/or Napolean Slice. It was a difficult choice so most of us opted for a bit of each.
Carrie trying to blow out the candles on her Birthday Cake
We had one more thing to celebrate yesterday. Carrie’s Birthday is January 6th and since we’ll be leaving for Palm Springs this Saturday we celebrated Carrie’s birthday yesterday. Paulette found some candles, put them in the Napolean Slice and lit them up like a small bonfire for Carrie to blow out. It took a few tries but with some help Carrie did manage to douse the candle flames.
After that, it was off to the family room for the kids to watch a movie while Paulette and I found a quiet place to sit down, relax and reflect on just how lucky we are.
Have a great day after Christmas, and thanks again for visiting!
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