UD ... glad to hear things are going well for you ...
Actually, Christmas eve is the 'bigger' of the two days for us also ...
This year started out early Sunday morning (went to Sat eve Mass so we could get an early start), with my wife making her "world famous scrambled eggs" for our two grandchildren from NY and their parents ... then off to her sister's house where things were already underway, making 'sausage rolls' - a generations old tradition- Italian sausage, provolone and Romano cheese, rolled into fresh made dough, and baked in the oven ... At around 11 AM the Bloody Marys and Mimosas started ... Fresh baked sausage rolls for lunch...
After the sausage rolls were all prepared, it was time to start preparing the seafood for dinner - stuffed shrimp, shrimp cocktail, lobsters: steamed, stuffed, cooked in tomato sauce to go with the linguine, octopus salad, - I would be cooking the calamari just before we sat down for dinner ...
After thanking the Good Lord for all our Blessings, we have dinner for a couple of hours ... then Christmas Carols to invoke the 'True meaning' of celebrating Christ's birthday, with all the kids (10 - ages 11 to 1 1/2 yrs) taking turns singing ... then the traditional 'pop' Christmas songs, and a visit from 'Santa' ...
We finally head home after 1 AM ... after laying out the gifts for our grandchildren, and the rest of the family (4 parents/ 4 grandkids sleep over) we get to bed after 3 AM, only to be wakened by #1 grandaughter at 6:30 - this kid DOES NOT need sleep - we convice her to be quite so the others can sleep longer, ... by 7:30 - 8 AM EVERYONE is awake, and it's time to do the gift exchange ... light breakfast, 11 AM Mass, back home to START COOKING - huge antipasto platter, standing rib roast, all the trimmings ...
I notice today that it is taking me a little longer to 'bounce back' ... but it was GREAT - wouldn't have it any other way !!! ...

t.