A Good Christmas

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Our Christmas was good in the best sense of the word; a minimum of glitz and flash, a maximum of warm glow.

It always starts on Christmas Eve morning with a breakfast hosted by Ben and his wife Sally and family. At 7 AM pancakes were already coming off the griddle, under the watchful eye of the deer who kindly provided the venison sausage this year.

Two of these pancakes fill you up.

But you want to make sure to leave room for the sausage--and eggs, and ham.

Almost 160 people went through the line and enjoyed breakfast with their neighbors.
That's good.
Much later, at 11 PM, it was the Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service. Isaiah was a Wise Man, and Jeremiah was a shepherd, but Jeremiah was out of his costume before I could get this photo posed.

It's easy to think you're already tired by 11 PM, and there's much still to do before morning. Then the kids file in and take their places in the manger scene, the Christmas carols bring a flood of peace, the twinkling light of the candles revive your spirit, and you don't want to be anywhere else.
That's good.
It was a short night--always some last minute wrapping and stuffing of stockings--but we were up bright and early for presents. The kids are almost all teenagers now, and they already know what they're getting, at least as far as the "big gift" goes. But they still get up at first light and bug us until we get out of bed.
That's good. 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and eating. I admit I dozed on the couch awhile, but there was still ample time to get the ham in the oven and prepare our Christmas dinner.
That was good.

Here's hoping your Christmas was good, too.