A Very Benner Christmas

Usually we spend Christmas day rushing around to the houses of various families. A couple hours here, a couple there, onto the next place and by the end of the day we're pretty exhausted. So despite being so far away from our families and friends this year, we were looking forward to celebrating with just us this year. So with our tiny little tree decorated and our lights up around the apartment, we settled in for a good night's sleep on Christmas eve.

The next morning we woke up, read some scripture, sang some Christmas hymns (we're not going on tour anytime soon), ate breakfast and admired our little Christmas scene:

Then we opened up all the presents, and this is what our scene turned into:

With all those great gifts, we were happy, and this is what we turned into:

That night, we had our friends Chapman and Becca over for Christmas dinner since, like us, they do not have family in LA. Becca's husband Ryan was originally going to come as well, but he had to fly to Seattle for his Grandmother's funeral at the last minute (Becca had to work and was flying there the following day).

So we cooked London broil with a Gorgonzola cream sauce and mashed potatoes with caramelized shallots. Chapman brought prosciutto-wrapped asparagus and Christmas cookies, and Becca came right from work with a fantastic bottle of wine, a spicy Syrah that complimented the meal perfectly. We all proceeded to eat, drink and be merry, and then we retired to the couch where we took this photo:

Eventually everyone left, and Rhi and I collapsed onto the bed in a food-related coma. It was a good Christmas.