The Life, Times and Travels of CJ, MJ, Joanna and Maki: Christmas Eve at Home

No matter how much I plan, Christmas Eve always sneaks up on me. This year, my shopping was pretty much done, my Christmas Eve menu was planned, and I had a plan for the evening's events. I had to work the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas Eve, so I think I robbed myself of enjoying the holiday season. It was nice not to have to travel during the holidays since traveling has become such a hassle these days.

But the tree was up and decorated, the house was clean (thanks to some extra help from mom, Maki and Alex), I had a pressed tablecloth (thanks to Alex) and all my presents were wrapped (God bless mom!).

I took December 24 off so I could cook all day. I love to cook and it's a treat to have more than 30 minutes to get a meal on the table. My Christmas Eve meal was:

Meatballs
My famous pesto dip and crackers
Mexican corn soup
Homemade stuffing (I guess you call it dressing since it wasn't cooked in a turkey)
Greek salad
Roasted sweet potatoes and bell peppers with haloumi cheese
Baked ham with a brown sugar glaze (thank you Dina)
Asparagus (thank you Eve and Karl)
Leche flan (thank you mom)
Filipino biko (thank you Dina)
My famous tiramisu

Our family tradition is to go to early evening mass, have dinner (noche buena), then open presents. It makes for a long night, but it's always a really great evening. The whole family is together and we spend hours eating, opening, eating, opening, eating some more.

Half the family attended the children's mass at St. Joseph. CJ was wiped out and actually napped during mass. It was a blessing in disguise since he had a long night ahead of him. Our friends Eve, Karl and Hans Erik + Seana, Beckett, Peyton and Tanya came over, which made the evening very festive. Back in CA, we always had friends join us and my entire family loved it. The more, the merrier.

After the first round of eating, we attacked the presents. My older sister is always the MC of presents. This year, the focus was on the kids, Jessie and CJ, who got mounds and mound of presents. CJ favorite's presents were Trackmaster Thomas at Action Canyon, The Great Discovery movie, a take along Thomas belt (which makes CJ look like a construction dude) and matchbox cars (a bunch of them).