A Very Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!

First, let me apologize for the bazillion pictures I have/will post in the next 24 hours. This really feels like our first Christmas with Maximo. The one where the Christmas magic (and the lies) begin. His first year was a blur, last year we went to Machu Picchu and didn't even put the tree up.

He still doesn't totally get all of it, and told me "No!" when I said Santa was coming tonight.

No, you don't have to sit on his lap today and smile through the tears for another photo, all you have to do is go to bed, sleep through the night, preferably to about 7:30ish (ha!) and then you'll have a bounty of presents under the tree!

Yesterday we went to Harborland on our quest to learn about more about Japan, especially the city we are living in and have explored very little of since we arrived. It's a labyrinth of stores that ends up outside (at a harbor, hence the name) where there are more stores AND some rides, the best being the 200 Yen Thomas ride.

Today, we lounged around, finished some shopping, then had our Christmas Eve dinner. We have been tossing around ideas about what to make - we wanted it to be special, but there's no sense in making a whole roast for just us three... And it turned out very special. We sat around sipping from my great grandmother's crystal, eating Kobe beef with blue cheese butter, smashed potatoes, salad and red wine. We really had a nice time, Max sat like a big boy and enjoyed the extra props of the candles and his "special glass".
A meal fit for a king - bite sized.


We tried for 5 minutes to use the timer to get a family picture.
We finally decided to enjoy our dinner and not worry about the picture!

We think Kobe beef should be our new Christmas Eve tradition.

We've played Santa already which was fun, but we realize that this job will get more and more difficult as he stays up later and we can't just keep things in the back of our closet. We assembled his tool bench at 7:15, just fifteen minutes after putting him to bed, that won't be the case ever again, we're sure.

The stockings are too swollen to be hung.
Wine for Santa