Festivnessessess

I've been having lots of fun celebrating the holidays.  As I sit in the silence of the house by the glow of the Christmas tree lights, I thought I would share with you all.

Let's start with the Santa Brunch.  Each year, Philip and I try to set aside a Sunday in December to go to Little America for the Santa Brunch.  Honestly, it isn't Santa that brings us there.  It is the crepes!  But they have a Santa Brunch in December so why not??  Little America is a fancy hotel in downtown Salt Lake.  They have it decorated all festive like and it has been a family tradition to go for Sunday Brunch.

Strawberry crepe complete with Sabayon sauce and powdered sugar.

I told Philip that if Santa came around, I would like a photo with him.  He flat out refused...as he does every year.  He was very stern that it was simply not going to happen.  It wasn't maybe 10 minutes later, that Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause came around to our table and saddled on up to Philip.  Luckily, I had my phone out and was able to snap a photo.

This is priceless!  I'm pretty sure there are daggers coming out of those eyes.

After they left, Philip told me he was horrified and needed at least a year of therapy to deal with what just happened.  I always follow Philip's wishes with his photos but he told me to go ahead and post it wherever I wanted.  Okie Dokie.  It took about 2.5 seconds for me to put it out on Instagram and Facebook.....because I live on social media.  Haha.

As we were leaving, we stopped to pose for a selfie together.  Much better smile. You can't tell in the photo, but we ate so much, we were completely miserable for several hours after this.  Philip managed to rustle up some dinner in the evening but I simply could not manage to fit one more thing in my mouth that day.

Another fun thing I did was this past Sunday.  Ryan had invited me over for his family's Christmas dinner and celebration.  I cannot express how surprised I was to be included after 17 years.  But I am ready to foster a better relationships so I agreed to go.

Ryan is an excellent cook.  He was a good cook while we were married but over the years, he has perfected his skills and tackles even Julia Childs with enthusiastic vigor.  For dinner, he made a wine braised beef roast, tri-color roasted carrots, and riced potatoes with au juice.  I'm telling you, it was to die for.  The flavors were excellent and the beef just fell apart.  I've always been interested in riced potatoes and I have to say, I am a huge fan.

The really special things was being included in such a fun adventures but also getting to spend some time with Ryan's Mom, Carol and his 3 girls, Philip's 1/2 sisters.  Rowan is 12, Kiera is 10, and Maggie is 5.   Rowan and I have hung out together so she knew me.  She came right up to me and gave me a big hug.  That was sweet as could be.  Kiera is really shy and kept her distance for a good hunk of the night.  Maggie was shy too but about 5 seconds later, we were playing legos and she was quizzing me about who I knew in the family.

After we had dinner, they opened family gifts.  Sticking with my regular tradition of focusing on the gathering rather than the gifts, I requested no gifts for me.  I had a great time watching the kids open gifts.  Even when they got something really small like a box of candy or a pack of gum, they were so grateful and made a point to thank the giver.  When they got to their larger gifts, they were overwhelmingly excited. Ryan did a great job fulfilling what each one asked for down to the very specifics.  At one point, Maggie came over and sat on my lap!  I was surprised but really enjoyed the loving celebration shared between the family.

Maggie in her reindeer hat Philip gave her.

After gifts, we had the most delicious Bread Pudding that Ryan made.  They felt it was a bit dry but to me, I thought it was very good.  Especially considering I am not a big fan of custard. But I enjoyed it and had a great time celebrating with them.  It really filled my heart.  I was very touched Ryan decided to include me.

Today, I met my work friends for lunch.  We went to Faustina's downtown.  We visited and caught up on news between us all.  We had a fantastic lunch and because we were all off work today, we had a cocktail.  Okay....I admit I ordered a glass of wine but only had a few sips.  Julie graciously agreed to finish it for me.  But boy was it delicious.  These girls are really a great group of friends.  I'm very glad they are in my world.

Lesley, Stacy, Julie, Me

I hope you are finding ways to enjoy the holiday season without too much stress.  I believe spending time with friends and family is really what it is all about.

Merry Christmas week.