12th Day of Christmas

We had our traditional family Christmas last Friday night, on the official "12 Day of Christmas". We always have fun planning a menu for that night, even though we're usually still recovering from lots of other yummy foods and treats. This year, I roasted a (lemon-rosemary) whole chicken in the Instant Pot for the first time.  It was a hit with everyone.  Delaney chose wild rice as a side, and Carrigan helped whisk together a homemade dressing for a salad.  Jonathan brought home a baguette (also good to dip in the dressing) and we finished the meal with pistachio pudding.

The kids receive their final gift from us then and usually an ornament and a few little stocking stuffers. I think their favorite though is the "Secret Sibling" exchange and they receive their gifts from each other. So sweet!  Some big hits this year were Delaney's "Beanie Boo" hat and gloves from Brinnly, Carrigan's Peppa Pig jammies from Everly, a Hermoine bobble-head to Brinn from Mali, and Delaney's garbage truck gift to Grant.

It would have been pretty much a perfect night if it would have ended at 8 pm. But, as life would have it, right after all of the festivities, we discovered a jammed sink in the bathroom.  Right after Jonathan fixed that, we discovered the leaking water heater in the basement.  And then Carrigan was up sick during the night.  But, we are thankful for the bursts of fun and joy we have together in the midst of such challenges.  Merry Christmas! 

He was really excited that the pudding was green.