Santa Claus, Scanvenger Hunt, First Communion, and Christmas Feast

Suzanna was awake about 6:00 A.M. and discovered that, lo and behold, the milk and cookies left out for Santa were gone; the stockings were stuffed; and gifts were stacked up on the floor beneath each stocking! Hillary rolled out of bed next, and Abigail needed some smooching from Dad before she roused and joined them for initial gift opening. It seems that Santa brought them stuff they like:

We had to allow time for breakfast and then church, so most of the gifts (anything not from Santa) had to wait for the afternoon. However, Susan and I had devised a Christmas scavenger hunt for the girls that we had them do before we went upstairs to eat brekkie. Several of their gifts were not easily wrapped, so we hid them around the house instead and then hid clues for them to find, leading eventually to the locations of the gifts themselves. It all started in the family room downstairs with our handing them an envelope containing this clue:

Here's a Christmas scavenger hunt / especially for you. / Find Beethoven and Chopin / to find your next clue.

That led them to the miniature busts of classical composers that sit atop our piano upstairs, amongst whom they found another clue:

What keeps a ship from sailing / into rocks while out at sea? / Find a mini one of those; / it's where your clue will be!

We hadn't realized that they didn't know the purpose of a lighthouse, so they were lost on this one. With some prompting, they got it and ran back downstairs to the lighthouse lamp on a stand near the couch where they found another clue:

When you squeeze a cow's ear, / sometimes it will moo. / Find a creature just like that, / and you'll find your next clue.

They started by searching among the cow collection on a table near the couch, but none of those knickknacks makes any cow noises. I have a pair of cow slippers, however, that moo when one squeezes a button in the ear. They ran upstairs to our bedroom to find another clue atop those slippers in our closet:

Next find a machine from which / clean clothes you lift. / That's the spot you all will find / a special Christmas gift.

And it was back downstairs to the washing machine in the laundry room. Inside were stuffed brand new winter coats: multi-layered, warm, fashionable, and functional (to replace old, stained, broken-zippered ones currently in use). There was also another clue:

There's another gift for you; / find it if you're able. / Here's a hint: start your search / around the scrapbook table.

It was a short trip from the laundry room to the craft table in the next room. Under the benches were stuffed snow pants to go with the winter coats. There they also found the last clue:

These should keep you cozy warm / and cuddly as a panda. / But what would these gifts be good for? / Find out on the veranda!

They bolted up the stairs, unlocked the patio door, raced onto the veranda, and discovered three new sleds! Although it was freezing outside and they were just in new Christmas pajamas, the girls didn't care; they each laid claim to a sled and sat down! We snapped a pic and then made them come inside. Then we all stood together and looked out at the green grass in the back yard. I guess we won't be using those sleds anytime too soon . . . which is too bad because we have some awesome sledding hills in the park just behind our house.

Reading a clue before conferring on the solution and then racing off to find the intended location.

New winter coats and snow pants!

SQUEALING and RACING up the stairs to get to the veranda! The girls watch The Amazing Race on TV with us, a worldwide scavenger hunt in which speed and arriving first are crucial. They were in that mode during this hunt, too, I guess!

Brand new sleds! Brand new pajamas! Subzero temperatures! Get inside, girls!!

Susan made a delicious breakfast: Emeril Lagasse's savory breakfast pudding with Fontina and Parmesan cheeses, French bread, spicy smoked sausage, ham, and vegetables, which she served with hash browns, orange juice, and coffee. Then we got dressed and went to 10:00 A.M. church for the girls' first communion!

Ready for church!

St. John Lutheran Church offers communion to children if their parents and the pastors feel that the kids understand its meaning and are ready to partake of the sacrament. Several weeks ago we borrowed from the church some teaching materials on communion and read them with the girls and had them do the activities in the accompanying booklets. Last Thursday we met with Pastor Lisa, who talked with the girls about what they'd learned and then gave them a tour of the sacristy and altar and had them do a "trial run" of taking communion with a wafer and cups half-filled with wine. We decided that today, Christmas, would be a special day for them to take their first communion. They wore the Black Hills gold cross necklaces that my parents gave them at their baptisms. Pastor Lisa announced to the congregation that "the Moberg girls" would be taking their first communion today, and everybody "aw"ed and, afterward, congratulated them. This afternoon they each received from Susan and me an angel bibelot--a pretty miniature angel with outstretched wings wearing a necklace featuring that girl's birthstone.

When we got home, there was more gift opening: the gifts from Mommy and Daddy to each daughter. It was very fun to watch them light up with each gift they opened. Suzanna even had a tearful moment during which she considered how little they "deserved" all these presents. What a sweetie! We cuddled, and I assured her that they don't have to deserve gifts--that that's not the point of giving. We had a good talk about appreciating gifts, too. A high point for each daughter was opening her own Webkinz stuffed animal, which comes with a code to register it and build an on-line home for it.

Abigail's hippo

Hillary's pig

Suzanna's frog

By mid-afternoon, Susan had prepared a wonderful Christmas feast: shrimp cocktail, pickles, and olives for appetizers; Caesar salad with crab meat; shrimp and scallop lasagna (with additions of crab meat and other adjustments by Susan); roasted corn; garlic toast; and icebox cheesecake with blueberry topping for dessert. Susan's dad, Roger, joined us for the meal.

The girls with Grandpa Gustafson

We had a lazy evening of playing with toys (including a card game called In a Pickle that was fun) and watching episodes of the amazing Planet Earth and talking on the phone to relatives (my sisters, Cathy and Sandy; we talked to my dad and Susan's sister, Cassie, earlier in the day) and having leftover appetizers from yesterday for a late-night supper. It was a great day all around and a super way to spend a holiday with family.

Notice the Mickey Mouse ear ornaments on our Christmas tree. They were basically the only souvenir that Susan and I bought for ourselves in Disney World. Aren't they cute? They match the Disney theme of our family photo and Christmas letter stationery this year.