Well, pardon my French, but we kinda half assed Christmas this year. We had a nice day and all, but we didn’t do everything we usually do. It just seemed like everything was out to thwart us:
-I didn’t get out of school til Dec 17th and had been really busy the two weeks before that with school (not even any time to window shop!).
-Dad got shots in his knees two days before Christmas.
-Mom is still recuperating with her leg.
-Laura was away housesitting the week before Christmas (leaving me to do most stuff around the house).
-The branch Christmas dinner got postponed a week, (and Mom planned a fancier party then Corry usually has) which meant that we were worrying about it for two weeks, not just one.
We just didn’t have the energy or time for some stuff. We usually get a regular sized tree, but this year we got a fairly small tree. We didn’t have the energy to wrestle with the living room furniture to make room for a bigger tree. I kinda missed having a bigger tree but I will admit it was so much easier to get in and out of the car and house and set up!
We cleaned house and decorated, but not to the extent of past years. There were some favorites that didn’t get put out. And I’ll fully admit that we cleaned/decorated pretty much only in the areas that would show in pictures.
I found myself shopping for some presents on the 23rd. Usually I do shopping earlier but was so swamped with final projects. The tree didn’t make it in the house until a few days before Christmas. And since Dad is in charge of the lights and he didn’t do them til the 24th, the tree didn’t get decorated til then! And not a ton of ornaments, either. I was wrapping presents at midnight.
We also like to go to the mall as a family and do some shopping and out to dinner at Cracker Barrel, but that didn’t happen either. And what we did do for Christmas exhausted me cause it was pretty much just me digging out the Christmas stuff and decorating.
I like to be very crafty at Christmas and that didn't happen either. I did manage a smidge of time to make ornaments for my YW by swirling paint in the value colors inside a clear glass ornament. Then I wrote their name and the year with a white paint pen. I felt like the Winter Warlock from Santa Claus is Coming to Town when he only has a bit of magic left in his fingers. I also felt old- wasn't it just a few years ago that my YW leaders were giving me homemade ornaments?
But that being said, we did the important things. We watched our favorite Christmas movies together leading up to Christmas. On Christmas Eve, I picked up Laura from the place she was housesitting (she had cable tv and the internet, the brat! She didn’t want to come home!) and we had dinner together and put up stockings and read the Bible verses about Christ’s birth. We put out cookies for “Santa” too. And then Laura went back to the other house.
Christmas morning came late- someone had to go get Laura. Instead of coming to the tree from the bedroom, Laura and I walked to the tree from the front door after I'd fetched her. We did walk in the house accompanied by our family's music tradition (a Nat King Cole mix tape done by Grandma years ago). I joked that our relatives that live on the West coast were going to be done opening presents before we even started! We had fun opening presents and had our traditional cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then came stockings and we had fun playing with our new stuff.
That afternoon we all bundled up and walked with our three dogs way down the driveway and put out old apples and bread for the deer and critters. Since we moved out here, we like to do that at night on Christmas Eve, but this year we did it during the day. We like to be charitable to the animals around here- they are God’s creations and the winters here are hard for them. It wasn’t long before the deer and critters found their present.
Christmas dinner was lasagna- nothing will top the Christmas lasagna I had as a missionary (it had perchuto in it!) but we came close with three different kinds- classic, spinach and a version with salami in it. I like the spinach one best. We also opened crackers, which is another tradition. You know, those paper tubes (that pop!) and you get a paper crown and a toy and a joke. And we got a homemade cheesecake for dessert! Lots of sugar that day!
In the end, Christmas is supposed to be about spending time with your family and celebrating the birth of our Savior, and we accomplished that. That’s the important part- the rest is just fun.
On to the pictures:
Hanging my stocking:
Christmas morning, had to get Laura- I wore my Gaga pants!
Keeping warm by the fire:
Wrapped Dad a tractors calendar in green duct tape with a red duct tape bow!
Me and Dad
I gave Dad a train that goes on a track in your tree! Big hit.
Mom and Dad
Laura love jellybeans
The house with old sleds on the porch:
And at night (with the light-up geese I gave Mom!) :
The YW ornaments I did:
Feeding the deer on Christmas Day:
What was my favorite present? Marleen (my former missionary companion) calling me up on Christmas Eve to get my address. It's been years since I've heard her voice (though we do keep in touch electronically) so it was incredibly nice to chat and catch up. It's the simple things that are the best. Thanks dear!
What was your favorite thing this Christmas season?
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!
