Hosting the Gustafson Christmas

My Christmas Eve began with four hours of work at DSU! Yes, we had to work today until noon, although--as you might guess--there was little to do. Our offices are accessible only via the library, which was closed and locked up today--so even if students or staff members had wanted service, they would have had no way to get to us! Still, the weather was beautiful, so the walk to and from work was lovely. And when I returned home around noon, it was to find that our guests had arrived!

Susan's brother, Jerrett, and his family from Mandan joined Roger (Susan and Jerrett's dad) and us at our house today for a Gustafson Christmas. We had a huge spread of appetizers at noon, including Buffalo chicken dip and chips, queso con carne and chips, Texas caviar salsa and chips, seafood dip and crackers, cheese ball and crackers, ham-and-pickle rollups, egg rolls, fruit kebabs and chocolate fondue, roasted garlic potato skins with onion and spinach dip, venison sausage, raw carrot medallions, and M&M's mixed with roasted peanuts. There was soda, beer, and hot buttered rum to drink.

Hillary is testing Santa's seriousness about adhering to the "no gifts if you're naughty" rule.

Abigail is practicing for teenagehood with an apathetic over-the-glasses expression.

Suzanna is enjoying some goofiness with her cousin, Arron.

After stuffing ourselves, we retired to the family room to open the presents from our gift exchange (we draw names among Susan's siblings, in-laws, and dad) and to watch the kids open their stacks of gifts (their names are not included in the drawing; everyone buys for their nieces, nephews, and grandchildren). We had hosted family Christmases in our previous house, which was so small that adding Christmas gifts alone made it cramped, let alone adding family members to go with those gifts! This house is a much better setup: spacious enough to spread out for gift opening and, later, for kids to disappear for play breaks without the adults ever seeing or hearing them (recall our family motto).

The patriarch! Roger oversees the gift-opening festivities.

Susan's brother, Jerrett, and his wife, Cheryl . . . love birds on the love seat.

Our nephew, Arron, looks on as his cousins (our daughters) hold court on the floor in front of him.

Yay! My favorite gift! It's always a safe bet to buy me a dress shirt and tie.

Then it was off to 3:00 P.M. church at St. John. IT WAS PACKED! There were people in chairs set up in the aisles beside the pews; there were people in chairs set up in the narthex; the balcony was full; and the choir area was full . . . of congregants, not choir members! The post-service count: 638 people. (Average Sunday: two church services averaging 280 per service.) Our daughters sang for church but were not the least bit flummoxed by the gigantic crowd. I accompanied them on piano as they sang a brief medley: two verses of "I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve," two verses of "Sussex Carol," and a verse of the first song again but this time in Norwegian: "Jeg Er Så Glad Hver Julekveld." They did well, and Susan and I were very proud.

When we came home, Susan finished preparing supper while Roger made a batch of warm milk with oysters floating in it to bring to his mom in the nursing home (it's a holiday treat that she enjoys). When he came back from tepid oyster milk delivery, he joined us for the meal: ham, meatballs and gravy, mashed potatoes, oven-roasted corn, scalloped oysters, fruit salad in a creamy orange sauce, wine, and Susan's Christmas baking for dessert. We even got to talk to Susan's sister, Cassie, who phoned from NC where she and her husband were hosting a family-less friend for the holiday. When our own guests left, we sent as much food with them as we could convince them to take, but our fridge is still packed to overflowing.

Before leaving at the end of the night, Arron was a good sport and let the girls fix his hair with clips for their own hair. Isn't he pretty?!

With bellies full, we waddled around the house picking up wrapping paper, washing dishes, writing down who gave whom what gifts (something my mom always did at each holiday and birthday), playing with toys unwrapped in the afternoon, setting out cookies and milk for Santa Claus and writing him a note to tell him which stocking belongs to whom, and finally tucking girls into bed. Susan and I had a few errands to finish once the girls were asleep (ahem), but we're done now, pooped out, and ready for bed. With such spring-like weather and no snow, it doesn't look or feel much like Christmas outside. But with great family, terrific food, a full schedule of church, Christmas songs at the piano, and mountains of gifts, it certainly feels like Christmas inside!