A Maffioli Christmas

Christmas Eve was pretty productive at our house. I washed my car inside and out while Dustin prepped our Christmas day lasagna. Later on, Cody and Kaelin stopped by to visit and to exchange gifts. They got me the coolest Mexican made (straight from Mexico) Steelers backpack. They picked up back when they went on a cruise a few months ago. I have never seen anything like it even in Pittsburgh. It will for sure get a lot of use. They also got us Bath & Body works soap which we love but Dustin is obsessed with. He immediately changed out our old soap with the new one they got us. Ha! We had a good time catching up and swapping stories. It was three hours of non-stop laughing which in my opinion is the perfect way to spend your Christmas Eve. And then when I asked Dustin to take a group selfie (a "groupie"?) he totally failed. The lighting sucks and all the photos are blurry but they still somehow work. It captures that moment in all it's fun. 

Dustin and I arrived in Gainesville around 9:30 am Christmas morning. We figured we'd get there early since we needed to leave early to be back in time for the Steelers game. My aunt was still in her PJs but we didn't mind one bit. We sat around the table eating mini quiches and drinking really good orange juice. We had to wait for Grey to get up before we could get the present opening under way. He actually gave us all our first gift of the day: one SMALL loan of one million dollars. It was so hilarious. I mean, our country's situation right now is absolutely terrifying but if we can't make jokes then he's really won. So yeah, we laughed a lot over that one. 

We continued opening presents and had a nice time just hanging out with everyone. My mom told us a story I had never heard in all of my 31 years. She was in a Christmas play in 6th grade wherein she played "lead hobo" and had to pretend to smoke a cigarette. I MEAN WHAT?! First of all I could not stop laughing about her character's title of "lead hobo". Is that supposed to be an honor? And then I couldn't believe (well, I have seen Mad Men so maybe I can) that a school (it was the 1960s) would allow fake smoking. The whole thing is ridiculous. It makes me wonder what other weird stories she's been holding on to. 

Dustin offered to make lasagna this year for Christmas. He used this recipe and it really was the "World's Best Lasagna". Hayley was nice enough to make Grey a gluten-free version. We all sat on the deck and ate until we couldn't eat any more. It was a little warm but not so much that we couldn't enjoy being outside. Overall it was another successful Christmas in Gainesville. 

Dustin and I headed back home so he could watch the Steelers game in the comfort of our own home. I did some cleaning up and ate some leftovers and then I passed out by 7pm. It was an exhausting day but in one of those satisfying ways. 

And by the way the way the Steelers won their division. 

Merry Christmas Steelers nation!