It's Christmas time in the city!

Alright so I know Christmas is over (duh-it's now Tuesday!) but I am going to post about our Christmas day now. (Remember: all pictures are from my crappy cell phone)

Ready?

Okay so let me clarify that Der and I spent this Christmas (2010) together.  We did not travel, have guests over, nothing.  We decided (much to a few peoples dismay) to celebrate the holiday together, our first as husband and wife.  We stayed right here in the Boro with our pup and the snow and celebrated with our little family staying in robes and pjs all day long. It was nice.*  We (read: I) woke up around 7 something, checked my emails and facebook (guilty!), started some hot tea and coffee, plugged the tree in, and hung out a bit doing my weekend routine while I let Der get a few more hours of shut-eye (he is not chipper in the morning and don't think that for one minute Christmas would be an exception, lol).  Then I couldn't stand it any more so I made some delicious chocolate chip pancakes for us to eat while we opened our gifts!  I woke Der up to them and he actually was smiling =]

They were piping hot and sooooo yummy!

So I made him trek into the living room where our tree was on and our presents were glistening under it so wonderfully.  I was taking the pictures so there's only one of me (oops!-but it's probably a good thing since I never left my pjs, lol).

(I told you he wasn't a morning person!  But he (and apparently Tuck) enjoyed the pancakes)

He's digging in his stocking-he got some lottery scratch off tickets (family tradition), some candy and some Magic cards!

Here is Tuck with most of his loot from his stocking-one big bone, two small bones, a bag of tennis balls (his favorite!), a new collar, and a fluffy squeak toy-we think he really enjoyed all of his stuff!

Here is D with his big gift-an old school Nintendo game Cube!  Being a gamer, he collects both old games and particularly old game systems.  This year he got the Game Cube from me and a Sega Genesis from my sister!  It was totally worth seeing his smile for this gift and it wasn't at all expensive!  He also got a graphic tee and a book by Twain from me.

Now this sneaky little booger is clever.  He wrapped me a Christmas throw (I'm a blanket fan), got me candles and chocolate truffles and a gingerbread house making kit (both the truffles and gingerbread house are traditions for us) in my stocking.  It was awesome! BUT: I have something in the mail that should get here today and I have NO idea what it is! I told him I'd keep the Christmas decor up until it got here because he felt a little bad that I didn't have a lot to unwrap Christmas day (I totally don't care!) but I am a little excited to see what it could be! I honestly have no idea.  Sneaky sneaky....

Anyway-so after presents Der and Tuck were both worn out so they went to take a nap (I was tired too but the coffee and tea I drank didn't help).

I don't know if you can really see-but Tuck is here perched on Der's shoulder like a little bird-both snooooooozing away.  It was adorable and I couldn't resist!

One thing you need to understand is that my family has never had a Christmas dinner. We are so busy all day during Christmas and our whole family has a big party at the end of the day where everyone brings snacky foods and soft drinks that there has never been time for it.  But Der is used to a HUGE Christmas dinner.  His mother, being one of the best cooks I've ever met, makes t.o.n.s. of food, desserts, drinks, etc., for a late Christmas lunch or dinner that he was bummed I hadn't planned on doing a Christmas dinner for just us two.  When he finally divulged that it is a tradition in his family, one that he'd like to carry over when we have kids one day, I said alright and we went to the store a few days before to get our tiny feast.  I told him it's not an issue to have Christmas dinner but that I was not going to spend all day cooking-it ain't my style, lol.  And for years when we travel, I'll assure him we'll have a Christmas dinner when we return home (if one is not being prepared to wherever we're going).

So-when they got back up we started our little 3 pound Christmas turkey and I started to unpack our china that my mother got me for my Christmas present! Oh it's GORGEOUS!  

We now have 2 full sets of our china, silver, and crystal! I was so excited that 1) I got it for Christmas with help from my Aunt Lynn and moms help and 2) we were able to use it just in time for our very first Christmas dinner!  It was truly very personal and amazing.

Here's our table set for two with our fabulous place settings.

With the turkey cooking I set the table and then Der and I played Mario Party on the Game Cube-man it was so much fun! We had mimosas while we played (which I think are normally tasty) but they tasted pretty bad, lol.  

I don't know if it was the different OJ I bought or the fairly cheap champagne but they weren't that great...pretty though!

 Naturally, I won (haha!) but we both had a blast (from the past) playing and jokingly competing against one another. After the game we went in to the living room to watch a video my mom got me that was very reminiscent of my childhood.  Does anyone remember the Disney shorts of Bongo the Bear and Mickey and the Beanstalk-both put on a film called "Fun and Fancy Free"?

This movies was a faaaaaaavorite of mine as a child and my awesome mom got it for me this year! So special.  It was great snuggling on the couch with my new throw watching this movie with my boo and pup. 

After the movie was over we finished up the sides for dinner (mashed potatoes, peas, croissants) and started to eat! Our little turkey turned out wonderfully and while we were eating we were baking a cake for dessert!

We lit some candles for our centerpieces and had water and sparking grape juice in our glasses. It was very good and very intimate. Even little Tuck got his very own small Christmas feast!

Now, the Christmas cake isn't your typical Christmas cake: Der wanted the cake mix and frosting that had the built in sprinkles-I laughed because it was essentially a birthday cake that just happened to fall on Christmas...well-I bet Jesus would have liked it, lol!

I feel like I need to explain why it is so small-I was trying to flip the first pan over to cool before frosting...and of course, it wasn't wanting to flip so I shook and tried to (very carefully)get it out.  You know what's coming...it finally came out and crumbled beneath my fingers...I was a little miffed but Der just laughed and perfectly got the second pan flipped (jealous). So the above picture is the 1 pan cake being frosted by King Flipper while I humbly take the photo, lol.  Note to self: grease pan better next time.

After dinner we went in to the bedroom and lay around like lazies.  It was awesome.  I was tired (still getting over a sickness I contracted the Wednesday before the holiday) so me, Der, and Tuck went to snuggle in the bedroom (a random tradition we do when we're all fed well). This was when I realized that we hadn't taken any pictures of us for our first Christmas!

There we go-holiday love <3

And that, my friends, was the Raley's first Christmas, 2010.  It was laid back, comfortable, and special.  I'm glad it happened =]

Look for a few more blog updates later this week-2011 is coming to a close and I've got a few more details and stories to tell!

*I am used to a ton of hustle and bustle on Christmas day because my family usually wakes up around 8-9 and is going, going, going ALL day long with visits to other houses, food, gifts, travel, etc. Nice denotes we simply hung out, locked inside all day with the snow and one another-yes!