Part 2 - Christmas At Gem's

Well the cake was finished with no time to spare! My parents started the arrival of our dinner guests, followed by my brother, sister-in-law and nephew (they were early for a change) and last but not least my sister, brother-in-law and other nephew (they arrived after the time dinner was to be put on the table). Chip & Rocky enjoyed the company of their cousins, as much as a 13 and 10 year old can enjoy the company of a 5 and 2 year old.

Dinner was a success, the dinner was catered from the local "speciality" supermarket and it was great! Even someone with no experience in the kitchen could have made it. We opened presents and once again the paper was strewn around the living room. We picked up the paper and then headed back to the table for dessert.

My mom and sister brought homemade cookies that they had made. I purchased a Strawberry Shortcake and made the Chocolate Ganache Cake. My 2 year old nephew loved the chocolate cake so much he stuck his whole face in it and had chocolate all over himself.

The rest of the family recalled a Christmas dinner several years ago, before my Grandmother started showing the signs of dementia, by asking "What kind of cake is it?" "Chocolate." "What's inside of it?" "Chocolate." "No. what's it made of?" "CHOCOLATE!" That made my Grandmother very angry with all of us and she refused to speak with anyone the rest of the night. Grandma has not been able to share in the holidays or any other celebrations for a few years, she is missed from around the table, but she is always with us.

After coffee and dessert, all were full and exhausted. My sister and her family packed up the car and left. My brother spent time with Chip & Rocky discussing computers. My mom, sister-in-law and I were talking about how my sis-in-law was feeling, as she is expecting in August. And my mom-in-law, Dad and Fred sat and watched some TV for awhile. My 2 year old nephew climbed up on Fred's lap and laid down to watch too. Fred is the only family member he will do that with. Fred was almost the one to bring my sis-in-law to the hospital the day he was born, since Fred works around the corner from their home. I guess Fred and my nephew have a special bond now!

My brother and family then packed up their car and left. My parents decided to go home a few minutes later. As they are walking out, they told me to say "Good Night & Merry Christmas" to Fred --- he was sound asleep! All of this happened before 9:00PM.

Part 3 --The Clean Up to follow