The Barri (more than one Barrus): Christmas Eve

It was a strange Christmas. My father's absence and our December 14th house move both colored and disrupted my normal festive merry making. I found myself bursting into tears at odd moments as I thought of Dad, my Santa, and how his large and jolly-ish presence was so obviously lacking. There was a somewhat somber mood on Christmas morning among the adults, but the children were so gleefully excited, it was impossible not to be swept up in the electrical feeling of anticipation and delight.

Christmas Eve is always spent with the Barrus side of the family. This year we gathered from 1-4pm at the Parkridge clubhouse. With nearly fifty people expected, we don't fit in anyone's house, especially if we want to sit down and eat. One in the afternoon is kind of a funny time to get together for Christmas Eve, but the clubhouse was reserved later, so that's when we met.

We had yummy food. I made a delicious salad with pears, mandarin oranges, pomegranate arils, avocado, candied almonds, and blue cheese. We had it at our Relief Society Christmas party and I knew I wanted to make it for the holidays. Kent always likes to us to take steamed shrimps, so we took those as well. In consultation with sister-in-law Brenda about menu, I also volunteered to bring a vegetable. I made a big bowl of glazed carrots and when I put them down, my other sister-in-law Michelle said, "Carrots! You made carrots? I made carrots!" She had a large crockpot full of carrots in an orange sauce. We laughed; we both must have really been lacking in beta carotene. We also had turkey and ham, potatoes, baked broccoli with a cheesy topping, fruit, and homemade bread. All delicious! The children ate next to nothing. They never eat when we are with cousins. Too much going on to stop to eat.

The fun thing about having Christmas Eve celebrations at the clubhouse is that there is a pool. The children were so excited to swim and must have asked me sixteen times as I ate when they could swim. How fun is it to swim on Christmas Eve? I suppose if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, swimming on Christmas Eve is probably not unusual. But in Utah? They swam with cousin Lydia while I watched from the pool deck and tried not to get too wet.

Blythe's swimming suit has lost most of its elasticity.

She has a droopy bum.

Funny Christmas Eve pictures, I know.

We also did a white elephant gift exchange. When Brandt's turn came up to choose a present, he became very shy and didn't want to pick anything. He doesn't like lots of people watching him. When I was finally able to convince him to take something, he ended up with a goofy outdoor decorative metal ant that stood about a foot high, had a bobble head, and held a small pot of fake flowers. He opened it and said to me, "I don't want this. You can have it Mom." I put it down next to the fireplace, and Brandt said, "Let's leave it here." We did take it home, but as we were emptying the car, I put it immediately into the trash without taking it inside. I don't need more stuff to deal with at the moment. I think Blythe got a wind-up frog, and Kent took a book from someone that had been a library book but that had been gnawed on by a dog and so had to be purchased. Dog damage was minimal and the book looks interesting. I, however, came away with the best gift of all. I got a Richard Simmons exercise video, Broadway Blastoff! Could it get any better than that? Yes it could. It had $10 taped to it! Yeah for me! I did take it from someone else, and I was the third steal so I got to keep it, and I don't feel bad about it at all.

As always, it was wonderful to be with family, to laugh and joke and play. Several of our nieces and nephews were there with their spouses who we don't see very often, even though they live close. George gave us a run-down of the year and bore a sweet testimony, invoking a patriarchal blessing on all of us. Brent and Brenda were here because of their current posting in Virginia, but will be off to Taiwan in the summer. And the Brinkerhoffs (Brandt and Blythe's favorite cousins) are moving to Indiana in June, so we won't be with them next year either. I am glad for time to be with loved ones and celebrate Christ's birth.

In years past, Christmas Eve celebrations with the Barri have always been in the evening, but because we were done early this year, we spent with rest of the evening with my mom. She and Dad are usually by themselves as we all spend Christmas Eve with our in-laws and Christmas day with them. Given the circumstances, no one wanted Mom to be alone. She planned a lovely dinner with her siblings and spouses, Aunt Georgianne and Uncle Lauren, and Uncle Tom and Aunt Darlene. Kent and I went too, as did Mikayla and Guy, whose parents are on a mission in Guam. We had another delicious meal, and then sat around the table and talked and laughed. Mom remembers Christmas dinners being very lively at their house as they were growing up, and Uncle Tom pointed out, glass of eggnog in hand, that their parents enjoyed spiked eggnog which helped liven up conversation. Maybe that's what we all needed to be less sad.

After the children were in bed, I dug a fake Charlie Brown Christmas tree out of the garage and decorated it with six ornaments the children made at various places this year. No lights, no tinsel, just six ornaments. I wrapped presents and pretty much called it good. Brandt has been on the fence about the whole Santa thing. He finds the whole story a bit impossible and knows the guy in the Santa suit we saw at the ward Christmas party is just a guy in a Santa suit. But when push came to shove, he wanted Kent to make sure we put out cookies for Santa, just in case. So we did. We had some vanilla wafers, one of which I sort of crumbled up over a plate, and then I had a glass of milk and left the cup next to the plate.