"Christmas Morning"

Figure 1

Yes, the use of quotations here is warranted. Why? Because it wasn't really Christmas morning. (Please see Scott's blog, link to the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotations for more background. Thank you.) This is a picture of our Christmas morning, which really took place at about 9:00 p.m. on December 19th. This is a 3-year strong tradition for our little family, because we're always in Salt Lake with our families for the actual event (which we love!). This is when we give our presents to each other and we have a random dinner--we just have a little bit of everything that sounds good. This year we weren't really feeling the random thing I guess because we're just getting older and can't handle the smorgasbord of foods that don't necessarily agree with each other. (Just call me Grandma Draper ;)) So we had chicken and mashed potatoes...yum.
I was delightfully surprised with all of Ben's thoughtful gifts to me. I would name them, but I'm worried I would leave something out and then he would think I didn't love whatever it was. One of the things I gave Ben was a pair of homemade pajama pants. It seems like no matter what pattern you have, what fabric you have, and whether you make them in sewing class or at home, they always turn out looking tenty. Equipped with this knowledge and prior experience, I altered the pattern a little to make the fit more flattering. The first pair was horrible, and I messed up so you couldn't tell the back from the front--not even when you put them on. They just felt wrong and uncomfortable no matter which way they were on. (I have to admit, I didn't follow the pattern the first time exactly...silly me.) The second turned out great! (See Figure 1 of Ben modeling new firetruck jammies) He said he's never been so happy because he thought he would never get to wear pajamas with firetrucks on them after he turned 4 years old. I'm glad I could make his wildest dreams come true. :) The second pair got thrown away, because I couldn't even bear to think of someone at DI picking them up.