Over, Rover

And it's alllll done.
Christmas is over.

Which is my point earlier in the month. Weeks and weeks of preparing for 48 hours of frantic festive fun.
Is it worth it?

I debate it every year.
And every year I realize that what you get out of the Christmas season is proportionate to what you put into it.

Boxing Day was "Christmas Day" for my extended family (dad, mom, bro and fam, sis and fam) ... and we met at my parent's place for dinner.

There were 17 of us eating two turkeys, a ham and a few racks of ribs. Vegies? Canned corn. Salads? None. But there were 5 lbs of mashed potatoes, a pot of rice, a gallon of gravy and dozens of buns.
THAT'S what Christmas dinner is all about. Protein and carbs.

After supper, the guys did the dishes and cleaned.
Then we all met in the living room to play Pictionary and despite the groans from old and young alike, we did limp through one game that almost ended in a tie. Guys won by a hair.

As soon as they could, they kids escaped up to Mandi's suite to play video games, while dad and Jim retired to the family room to watch the DVD dad has been asking for for 2 months: Dirty Dancing. Mom, Jule, Daryl and I played 3-hand Yahtzee with Jacquie keeping us company.

By midnight, just about everyone had left. Except Mandi, Clint, Mom and I, so we sat around and talked. And talked. And talked.

At 2 am, Drew texted Clint wondering when we were going to come home.
So we left, got home at 2:30 am and watched Easy A with him til 4.

I decided this was the nicest Christmas ever.
Clint decided to marry Emma Stone.

Three things I'm thankful for:
1. All three boys drove to Sunpeaks together this afternoon. I'm glad they took my truck. I'm glad they got there safely. I'm glad they're mine.
2. I'm thankful that Danica, her sister, Mandi and Sandra came to see a movie with me tonight.

 I'm sad it was a crappy movie. I'm thankful that we can always try that again.
3. I'm thankful for some answered prayer. Aslan is on the move.

Shalom,
(PS Christmas album can be viewed here.)