Christmas was simply delightful this year. I handed out root beer and chocolate kisses to my friends with the note "Have a merry kissmas and happy root beer." I'll admit I stole that from Aunt Marjorie, she did that many years back but I still remember that and thinking of how clever she was. In return, I got some friends gifts too.
Twelve days before Christmas, someone left a small wooden stable on our front porch and a snow globe. We were all very excited about this, but were wondering about the empty stable with no nativity characters in it. The next day, we got a goat I think, and then a bunch of hot chocolate mixes. Each day, we've gotten another piece to the nativity and another present for the family. It's been really fun to see what we get each day and I'm really grateful someone did this for us.
Two days before Christmas, I went over to my cousin Amanda's house. They had just come back from Canada, and Amanda and I haven't hung out in a while which made us feel sad. I went Christmas shopping with her and we played the piano together (that's one of the wonderful things about Amanda, we can play the piano for entertainment and take turns which I can't do with my other friends because they get bored). Hannah came over a couple hours later to hang out with Chelsie, and we both slept over at their house.
The next day, we went home and were instantly put to work. When people think of holidays, they think of fun and relaxation. I think of cleaning. I'm used to it though so I didn't mind the work. After I was done cleaning, I started trying to work more on my mom's present.
I got Mom an amazing present this year. She specifically told me not to get her a snuggie, so I just ignored that wish anyway. However, I didn't get her just a regular snuggie. I went online and found instructions on how to make your own snugglet. Therefore, a couple of weeks ago Dad and I went shopping and bought fabric and some special (expensive!!) fabric paper that you can put in your printer so I could sew on pictures of the family. I made the snuggie a couple of nights before, but I still had to print and sew on the pictures. I was freaking out when I was printing the pictures because I didn't want to mess up and the special paper was too expensive to waste. I got them printed and cut out though, but then I was freaking out because we had to leave for Aunt Marjorie's house for our annual (except for last year) Christmas Eve get-together. I brought the snuggie, pictures, and sewing machine with me and tried desperately to get it done, but sewing on the images was really hard with so much fabric everywhere and the pins keeping the pictures on kept on falling off. I managed to get a couple of pictures sewn on before going upstairs for our program and I just pinned the rest on carefully. Uncle William and Uncle John and their families were there along with Marjorie's and mine (obviously).
Upstairs, everyone was singing Christmas songs which was a little strange at first but then I just joined in. We then started our talent show. Emma Jo went first and she sang a song for us. Emily and Matthew, my little cousins who are like 4 and 2 I think, got up and sang and danced for us which was adorable. Hannah played the violin and everyone was impressed how good she sounded after starting to play last September. Amanda and Chelsie played the piano and Jordan, Uncle John, Mackenzie, and Skyler all sang or acted out the Best Song in the World. Ashley and I decided to do a skit, in Chinese. It was pretty simple (btw this is writting in pin yin):
Ashley: ni hao (hello)
Celeste: ni hao ma? (how are you)
Ashley: wo hen hao, xie xie. (I'm pretty good, thank you)
Celeste: wo shi si lin. ni jiao shen me? (I am Si Lin. What is your name?)
Ashley: wo shi (I am whatever her Chinese name is here)
Celeste: wo shi xing huan he niu nai, guo zhi, shui, cha, ke le, he ka fe. Aye aye! ni shi zhonggou ren ma? (I like to drink milk, fruit juice, water, tea, coke, and cofee. Aye aye! You are Chinese?)
Ashley: bu shi, wo shi mei guo ren. (no, I am American)
Celeste: wo shi ye mei guo ren. Ta shi wo ma ma (I am also American. I point to my mom saying "This is my mom")
Ashley: bu shi, ta shi wo ma ma (no, this is my mom)
Celeste: bu shi, ta shi wo ma ma
Ashley: bu shi
etc, etc....
Ashley: *gasp* mei mei? (little sister?)
Celeste: *gasp* jie jie? (older sister?)
Then we both hugged and then I said in French: merci, je t'adore ma soeur. Which then confuses everyone. It was great, everyone seemed to like it.
I then presented the unfinished snuggie to Mom and told her that she has to wear it since I made it and it has pictures of us on there or I will be upset. The technique was the guilt her into wearing it.
Aunt Marjorie then brought out some gifts that Grandma and Grandpa Stevens sent us from Mongolia. Each of the younger girls got a Mongolian boy and girl doll. Each of us got a Mongolian CTR ring, and it says "3C" on it. Us older girls got a cute Mongolian purse, the men/boys got ties, and the women got some fabric thing. It was really cool, we then passed out our cousin gifts. It was William's family's turn to give my family a present this year, so we got candy bars, Harry Potter 4 and 5 ps2 games, popcorn, and a giftcard to McDonald's. Needless to say, he is still my favorite uncle on my mom's side (I had a thing when I was little for rating my uncles, and he was always number one). Amanda got me smarties from Canada (which are actually like m&ms) and these really awesome giraffe earrings I saw her looking at yesterday. They are awesome! My pajamas are really cute, and coincidentally ended up matching Amanda's except they were different colors. The adults all then had to take pictures of us in our pajamas.
I really love my family. My dad was talking while me, Ashley, William and Wendy Rae, and someone else were in the room and then he said "Well, Santa isn't real." All of us gasped at the same time. Someone said "shun the non-believer!" and then at the same time, William and me said "Shun!" just like in Charlie the Unicorn. Oh man it was funny, I love my family. Just stupid moments like that can make my day.
When we got home, we went in the living room and just kinda hung out and watched Sylvester play with a game piece I kept throwing around. Ashley and I spent some time in the kitchen dancing to the Christmas music. Soon, they took pictures of us and we set out chocolate milk and cookies. Emma tried to bring out nine big carrots, one for each reindeer. Mom and Dad convinced her to leave just one out and that we'll leave a note telling Santa that his reindeer can get more out of the fridge if they want to. I went to sleep very easily that night for the first time in my life on Christmas Eve. Hannah told me later that she couldn't sleep. I'm so glad those days are over.
When morning came, I had a premonition while I was sleeping that something was going to happen. Sure enough, a couple of seconds later, Ashley and Hannah came in and scared me awake. We then went to wake up Emma. I thought it was funny that Ashley, the oldest and 17 years old, was the first awake and woke everyone else up. Last year, both me and Ashley were the first ones awake. At exactly 7 am, we woke our parents up. They said to give them 5 minutes so we went into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate and then stared at the Christmas tree and presents in all its glory. Soon, our parents came and we opened stockings first then started opening presents. We open them oldest to youngest, one at a time because it's fun to see what everyone got and how they react. Ashley got mainly clothes, of course. I got a back massager, a skateboard, two how-to-draw books, a small sketchbook, two very amazing books, jewelry, a jewelry box, skinny jeans, three shirts, and a sweatshirt with Eeyore on it. Ashley and I were both jealous when Hannah got a backwards snuggie (bathrobe). All of us but Emma got the Sims 3. I haven't played it yet. Emma got mainly barbies and littlest pet shops and polly pockets.
The rest of the day was really good. Everyone was super tired and took a small nap at one time or another. I finished making Mom's snuggie later. And, a hundred pin pricks and minutes later, it was done. I was very proud, and also made a vow never to make a snuggie again, or at least ones with pictures on it. Dinner was very delicious, and afterwards everyone in our family helped clean and it was fun because we were working but talking and laughing at the same time. It was a good day.
The next day, I started reading The Hunger Games. It is so amazing!! I stayed up until 5 am reading it, the whole time I had my back massager thing going. It pretty much just vibrates but I love it. On Sunday, I read the second Hunger Games book and stayed up until 2 am reading it. Now whenever I start to move or walk, my body like buzzes because of the back massager I think, it's really weird. You guys should all read the Hunger Games because you will stay glued to it until you finish, I can't even describe how amazing it is. The thing that's killing me now is that the third and final book doesn't come out until August, and the ending of the second book was so crazy that I'm just dying inside because I can't read it again for another 8 months.
Anyway, that was my awesome Christmas, I loved it! Thanks Mom, Santa, family, and friends!
Twelve days before Christmas, someone left a small wooden stable on our front porch and a snow globe. We were all very excited about this, but were wondering about the empty stable with no nativity characters in it. The next day, we got a goat I think, and then a bunch of hot chocolate mixes. Each day, we've gotten another piece to the nativity and another present for the family. It's been really fun to see what we get each day and I'm really grateful someone did this for us.
Two days before Christmas, I went over to my cousin Amanda's house. They had just come back from Canada, and Amanda and I haven't hung out in a while which made us feel sad. I went Christmas shopping with her and we played the piano together (that's one of the wonderful things about Amanda, we can play the piano for entertainment and take turns which I can't do with my other friends because they get bored). Hannah came over a couple hours later to hang out with Chelsie, and we both slept over at their house.
The next day, we went home and were instantly put to work. When people think of holidays, they think of fun and relaxation. I think of cleaning. I'm used to it though so I didn't mind the work. After I was done cleaning, I started trying to work more on my mom's present.
I got Mom an amazing present this year. She specifically told me not to get her a snuggie, so I just ignored that wish anyway. However, I didn't get her just a regular snuggie. I went online and found instructions on how to make your own snugglet. Therefore, a couple of weeks ago Dad and I went shopping and bought fabric and some special (expensive!!) fabric paper that you can put in your printer so I could sew on pictures of the family. I made the snuggie a couple of nights before, but I still had to print and sew on the pictures. I was freaking out when I was printing the pictures because I didn't want to mess up and the special paper was too expensive to waste. I got them printed and cut out though, but then I was freaking out because we had to leave for Aunt Marjorie's house for our annual (except for last year) Christmas Eve get-together. I brought the snuggie, pictures, and sewing machine with me and tried desperately to get it done, but sewing on the images was really hard with so much fabric everywhere and the pins keeping the pictures on kept on falling off. I managed to get a couple of pictures sewn on before going upstairs for our program and I just pinned the rest on carefully. Uncle William and Uncle John and their families were there along with Marjorie's and mine (obviously).
Upstairs, everyone was singing Christmas songs which was a little strange at first but then I just joined in. We then started our talent show. Emma Jo went first and she sang a song for us. Emily and Matthew, my little cousins who are like 4 and 2 I think, got up and sang and danced for us which was adorable. Hannah played the violin and everyone was impressed how good she sounded after starting to play last September. Amanda and Chelsie played the piano and Jordan, Uncle John, Mackenzie, and Skyler all sang or acted out the Best Song in the World. Ashley and I decided to do a skit, in Chinese. It was pretty simple (btw this is writting in pin yin):
Ashley: ni hao (hello)
Celeste: ni hao ma? (how are you)
Ashley: wo hen hao, xie xie. (I'm pretty good, thank you)
Celeste: wo shi si lin. ni jiao shen me? (I am Si Lin. What is your name?)
Ashley: wo shi (I am whatever her Chinese name is here)
Celeste: wo shi xing huan he niu nai, guo zhi, shui, cha, ke le, he ka fe. Aye aye! ni shi zhonggou ren ma? (I like to drink milk, fruit juice, water, tea, coke, and cofee. Aye aye! You are Chinese?)
Ashley: bu shi, wo shi mei guo ren. (no, I am American)
Celeste: wo shi ye mei guo ren. Ta shi wo ma ma (I am also American. I point to my mom saying "This is my mom")
Ashley: bu shi, ta shi wo ma ma (no, this is my mom)
Celeste: bu shi, ta shi wo ma ma
Ashley: bu shi
etc, etc....
Ashley: *gasp* mei mei? (little sister?)
Celeste: *gasp* jie jie? (older sister?)
Then we both hugged and then I said in French: merci, je t'adore ma soeur. Which then confuses everyone. It was great, everyone seemed to like it.
I then presented the unfinished snuggie to Mom and told her that she has to wear it since I made it and it has pictures of us on there or I will be upset. The technique was the guilt her into wearing it.
Aunt Marjorie then brought out some gifts that Grandma and Grandpa Stevens sent us from Mongolia. Each of the younger girls got a Mongolian boy and girl doll. Each of us got a Mongolian CTR ring, and it says "3C" on it. Us older girls got a cute Mongolian purse, the men/boys got ties, and the women got some fabric thing. It was really cool, we then passed out our cousin gifts. It was William's family's turn to give my family a present this year, so we got candy bars, Harry Potter 4 and 5 ps2 games, popcorn, and a giftcard to McDonald's. Needless to say, he is still my favorite uncle on my mom's side (I had a thing when I was little for rating my uncles, and he was always number one). Amanda got me smarties from Canada (which are actually like m&ms) and these really awesome giraffe earrings I saw her looking at yesterday. They are awesome! My pajamas are really cute, and coincidentally ended up matching Amanda's except they were different colors. The adults all then had to take pictures of us in our pajamas.
I really love my family. My dad was talking while me, Ashley, William and Wendy Rae, and someone else were in the room and then he said "Well, Santa isn't real." All of us gasped at the same time. Someone said "shun the non-believer!" and then at the same time, William and me said "Shun!" just like in Charlie the Unicorn. Oh man it was funny, I love my family. Just stupid moments like that can make my day.
When we got home, we went in the living room and just kinda hung out and watched Sylvester play with a game piece I kept throwing around. Ashley and I spent some time in the kitchen dancing to the Christmas music. Soon, they took pictures of us and we set out chocolate milk and cookies. Emma tried to bring out nine big carrots, one for each reindeer. Mom and Dad convinced her to leave just one out and that we'll leave a note telling Santa that his reindeer can get more out of the fridge if they want to. I went to sleep very easily that night for the first time in my life on Christmas Eve. Hannah told me later that she couldn't sleep. I'm so glad those days are over.
When morning came, I had a premonition while I was sleeping that something was going to happen. Sure enough, a couple of seconds later, Ashley and Hannah came in and scared me awake. We then went to wake up Emma. I thought it was funny that Ashley, the oldest and 17 years old, was the first awake and woke everyone else up. Last year, both me and Ashley were the first ones awake. At exactly 7 am, we woke our parents up. They said to give them 5 minutes so we went into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate and then stared at the Christmas tree and presents in all its glory. Soon, our parents came and we opened stockings first then started opening presents. We open them oldest to youngest, one at a time because it's fun to see what everyone got and how they react. Ashley got mainly clothes, of course. I got a back massager, a skateboard, two how-to-draw books, a small sketchbook, two very amazing books, jewelry, a jewelry box, skinny jeans, three shirts, and a sweatshirt with Eeyore on it. Ashley and I were both jealous when Hannah got a backwards snuggie (bathrobe). All of us but Emma got the Sims 3. I haven't played it yet. Emma got mainly barbies and littlest pet shops and polly pockets.
The rest of the day was really good. Everyone was super tired and took a small nap at one time or another. I finished making Mom's snuggie later. And, a hundred pin pricks and minutes later, it was done. I was very proud, and also made a vow never to make a snuggie again, or at least ones with pictures on it. Dinner was very delicious, and afterwards everyone in our family helped clean and it was fun because we were working but talking and laughing at the same time. It was a good day.
The next day, I started reading The Hunger Games. It is so amazing!! I stayed up until 5 am reading it, the whole time I had my back massager thing going. It pretty much just vibrates but I love it. On Sunday, I read the second Hunger Games book and stayed up until 2 am reading it. Now whenever I start to move or walk, my body like buzzes because of the back massager I think, it's really weird. You guys should all read the Hunger Games because you will stay glued to it until you finish, I can't even describe how amazing it is. The thing that's killing me now is that the third and final book doesn't come out until August, and the ending of the second book was so crazy that I'm just dying inside because I can't read it again for another 8 months.
Anyway, that was my awesome Christmas, I loved it! Thanks Mom, Santa, family, and friends!
2 comments:
I've never been to the Christmas Eve family get together. I wish we lived closer. I'm glad you had a great Christmas!
Next year the whole family will be together though, right?
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