Christmas Eve and all through the house...

We had our big extended family party today...everyone had such a great time, so nice getting together to celebrate this magical time of year.

 

Nothing like starting a blog post off with pictures of two giant chunks of raw meat LOL The prime rib turned out awesome...the rub was a nice touch. We made a little too much, even with 20 + people, that is OK...it'll be good leftovers.

Rub: we doubled this for 24 some pounds of meat.

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons ground black pepper (you can grind whole peppercorns in a blender)

8 large garlic cloves, minced

2 table spoonsminced fresh rosemary

1/2 tea spoonminced fresh rosemary for the sauce

1 table spoon Dijon mustard

A little red wine to wet it all so it is easier to rub on.

We made 2 desserts, a Red Velvet cake with a cheesecake middle and a Banoffe pie. They were both yummy but the Banoffe was my fave. And SUPER easy to make!

First I put a can of sweetened condensed milk, with label removed, in a crock pot full of water. Make sure the can is always fully submerged, turn it on low for 8 hours.

Once the 8 hours is up let the can cool down enough to handle. While it is cooling make your graham cracker crust. Melt 1 stick of butter then add about 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs. Blend until you have a moist sand mixture. Press it into the bottom of a pie pan to make your crust. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Let it cool completely. Once the can of sweetened condensed milk is cool enough to touch open it and stir it up as best you can. Slice up 3 banana's onto your cool pie crust, then pour the contents of the can on top. Top it off with whipped cream...(2 cups cold whipping cream and 1 tsp vanilla, whip on high until whipped) and chocolate chips.
The desserts were so good I totally forgot to take pictures of them once they were done LOL.

Jericho went and passed out for a nap...must have known he was in for a long exciting night.

The snowball cookies are always a favorite. My attempt at donut snowmen LOL.

Yummy and festive!
The mini sausage crescent wreath with some BBQ sauce cranberry dip was a huge hit.

The kids looked super cute. No he doesn't hate the bow tie, he just got up from his nap LOL.

 

The kids had a hard time holding off on presents until after dinner. It is so hard to be 4 and surround by presents you can't open until later LOL. We heard "I'm just looking" a lot :)

Jericho's self service station...LOL, at least he isn't a double dipper.

Just about time to eat.

 
Full house! The food was perfect...it was just pure silence while everyone ate, usually a great sign that everything is yummy.

Great Uncle Steve gave out some camera lessons. I obviously need to sign up Hahaha. 

 

Miss Lily...picking out which one she wants to open first.

The girls got "fabulous" new purses from their Auntie Stacie. 

My brother opening a gift from "Your friendly neighborhood Zombie hunters" he liked his machette :)

 
A new shirt for Xander...snowboarding Peeps. Their Auntie can't wait to get the trio up skiing. Worry wart Momma is just a little scared.

Cousin Hailee gave the trio a Tea Set. Great Aunt Julie gave a really cute Lady Bug one to Lily too...it is glass so our Miss Bug will not be playing with it anytime soon. She also got a cute baby doll from Julie in a Ladybug outfit...Lily was in buggy heaven :) 

Poor Xan picked tonight to come down with a little fever...so he was a little more mellow than usual. 

Jericho had a fun 2nd Christmas, he did a pretty good job opening his gifts, and only his gifts, this year :)

 
Hanging up a new ornament...pretty good form there Buddy.

 
So cute!

My Mother In Law found this great shirt for her eldest...funny, and yeah...there is a story there ;)

Such a fun time, thanks to everyone for coming and celebrating with us. We are all so lucky! 

After about 5 hours of fun and food and gifts it was time to clean up and get the kiddos to bed. We set out cookies and milk for the big guy this year. 

Once the munchkins were a snooze...which was surprisingly fast, their Dad helped get Santa's big gift to the kiddos set up. Santa is a busy guy you know. 

Oh boy...this could take a while.

Jason working hard. 

Hmmm that's funny.

I am so excited...can't wait until morning.