repeat the sounding joy.

Christmas 2010 was quite the whirlwind as we spent part of the holiday in Austin and then woke up early Christmas morning to spend Christmas day and the day after with Nick, Michelle, Haylee and Meredith. Lucky for me, I was able to sleep away most of the travel time which was much needed after attending midnight mass the night before. Due to the empty roads, we made great time and only missed a couple hours of the day.


Upon arriving, we got right to work on the preparations for Christmas dinner. It was all hands on deck to get the bird in the oven and to get the rest of the dishes rolling so we could open presents as soon as Mere got up from her nap. We also opened a ridiculously large bottle of prosecco to aid in our most arduous labor.





Once the turkey had been properly rubbed and put safely in the oven to bake up golden and delicious, we snacked a little bit and sang some Christmas carols. Haylee even brought out her keyboard to accompany us. It was so much fun to sing my favorite Christmas carols not once, but several times throughout the Christmas season. I felt like I was living a scene out of a movie...such a wonderful way to reflect on the birth of Christ amidst all of the presents and trappings that come with Christmas celebrations.





After the carols, it was on to the main event (for Haylee at least) which was opening the mountain of presents under the tree. Christmas was all about Haylee and Meredith this year, and it couldn't have been more fun. Haylee's exclamation upon opening every present: "OH.MY.GOODNESS!!!!" It was hilarious.















All that excitement made for a tired and weary crowd. While the majority of the group rested in front of a Christmas movie, I got busy in the kitchen whipping up the Christmas feast. There was much to prepare. On the menu was an herb-roasted turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans with goat cheese and caramelized onions, my savory bread stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce.





Once the table was set, the turkey was carved and the wine was poured, we toasted a Merry Christmas to all and dug right in.



Per usual, the night commenced with a final round of photo opps beneath the tree.







We finished the night watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and then tucked ourselves in after a long day.

The next morning, we woke up to do our traditional Christmas brunch (a day late), but it was still just as tasty as ever. Monkey bread, quiche, fruit salad, bacon and mimosas - it never gets old! We stuffed ourselves with the delicious goodness and stretched out our stomachs by watching Fred Claus and playing a couple games of Candy Land.





It was a most joyful time of celebrating Christ's birth, the day that the "word became flesh and made His dwelling among us." May I live as though that changes everything.