Christmas Day with Family Progressive Visits

Spencer, Michael & Jackson Hatch with Ken

Ken and I awakened to a lazy morning where we really didn't have to be anywhere until afternoon.  What a treat to sleep in and then leisurely open gifts under the tree (most of which were for ZiZi Zinfandel Z-Dog) and have a relaxed breakfast.

Andrew Hatch

We were invited to the home of Katie & Kevin Laramore, my daughter and son-in-law, for Christmas dinner later that afternoon, but we had a few gifts to deliver on the way.  Though we had celebrated with the Hatch Family two nights earlier at our home, we had somehow forgotten to give them some of the gifts that were waiting under our tree for them.  It may have been the high energy and excitement with all the young children opening their gifts that we totally forgot everyone else!

Once we were dressed and ambulatory, our first stop was the home of Ken's eldest son, Sean Hatch along with his partner, Troy Clark.  It was fun to see their Christmas decorations which included a huge blow up "Shrek" outside their house (Troy has been compared to Shrek numerous times and is proud of the comparison!) along with beautiful glass balls and whimsical lights.  Inside, it was a treat to see their huge collections of snow globes and nutcrackers and their perfectly decorated tree which was still replete with gifts underneath since they were opening gifts later that afternoon.

Katie reads to Bode, ZiZi and Kevin

Our next stop was at Ken's third son's home where we saw Michael & Alicia Hatch along with their three sons, Jackson, Spencer and Andrew.  We dropped off Andrew's giant gift which we had forgotten to give them earlier and had a chance to see all the Transformers, Playmobil and Lego toys that Santa had brought the bigger boys.  It was quite a haul and Jackson was especially enjoying trying to build each one.

Ken helps ZiZi check out Bode

From there we headed to Bonney Lake to Katie and Kevin's home, where they had prepared dinner for us and for Kevin's parents, Jill & Rick Laramore, to join them.  Their house was festive with lots of exterior lights and two Christmas trees inside.  We were greeted with Ginger Cranberry Cosmos (yum!), parmesan breadsticks, rosemary cashews and broiled bacon wrapped prawns.  For dinner, Katie served baked ham with a savory mustard orange glaze, broccolini with pecan butter and my personal favorite, creamy baked leeks with bacon and breakcrumbs.  For dessert, she made chocolate souffles which tasted absolutely delicious!  I was very impressed!

Kevin models his new snuggie

We brought the white elephant gifts from Christmas Eve that they had missed taking with them and Kevin looked quite fetching in his new "snuggie".  I think Katie was thrilled that she wasn't the recipient of the snuggie and received a sound machine instead that makes socially unacceptable noises.

The evening ended with an "Ugly Ornament" exchange.  Several of the ugly ornaments looked suspiciously as if they had come from my old ornament collection that Katie had recently acquired, but what I thought was the worst one definitely did come from Jill and Rick and was a moose dressed in fatiques.

It was a very merry Christmas and it was such a treat for me to be entertained in my daughter's home this year!

Cutter enjoying a souffle with Jill

Rick, Bode, Kevin and Cutter Laramore work to open Bode's gift.