Christmas Eve Brinner...

Taken Before the Missionaries arrived ~ Christmas Eve 2008

When we were first married we were pretty darn broke...broke, broke, broke! Our first Christmas as a family we had an apartment in Salt Lake, a brand spankin' newborn baby, and a lot of loving family close by. That Christmas Eve after visiting with family and eating our fair share of appetizers we got hungry...hungry like only two young kids who just started a family can get...you know the "we wanna eat out but don't have much money," hungry. So we decided on IHOP. Yes, IHOP. That "breakfast-anytime-you-want-it-for-a-reasonable-price-even-broke-newlyweds-can- afford, IHOP. We were joined by some family and had an fabulous family dinner...er...brinner.

The next year we moved to Vegas but returned to SLC for Christmas festivities...somehow after visiting at Jeremiah's grandma's house we wound up at IHOP eating a delectable breakfast feast...again...and thus began a Holiday Tradition.

Soon each Christmas Eve brought a huge Christmas "Brinner" with pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, biscuits, and fresh squeezed orange juice. We began having Brinner in our home instead of going out to IHOP and each year the festivities have gotten bigger. Over the last few years we had friends and family join us for our traditional Brinner which now includes building a Gingerbread House for Santa, stories, music, games, and sugared-up craziness. Being new to Kansas this year we kept the festivities small and invited the missionaries. My parents were also in attendance since they will be visiting until New Years and we were so grateful that they could once again be a part of the fun.

So now after sucking you in to my story and nostalgia, it is with heavy heart that I inform you that unfortunately, I began taking pics of the kids before the food and completely forgot to take pictures of the actual feast and such (so unlike me, I KNOW). So I don't even have picture to document year 9 of our Brinner extravaganza!! :(

Luckily, Ashlynne remembered the camera when it was time to make the gingerbread house. It was so much fun because the missionaries jumped right in and helped with all the fun putting it together. In the end though it wound up looking like a house of icing horrors that threw up candy everywhere.....but Santa did take a bite so it must have been to his liking. :)

Photos courtesy of Ashlynne:





Our finished GINGERBREAD CANDY HORROR HOUSE for Santa & Carrots/Celery for the Reindeer (they need healthy snacks to fly fast)