This year has been one of the most “on the go” Christmas seasons that I have ever experienced.
On Christmas Eve we invited Danny’s entire side of the family (roughly 13 people) over for a meal and gift exchange. It was the first time that I had ever hosted anything like that before and I think that it turned out pretty well. Everyone seemed to have a good time. We knew going into this year that things would be kind of sad, given everything that Danny and his family have gone through over the past year.
In order to prepare for the crowd, I put on my party shoes…
…and prepared food like I have never done before in my life. Danny, in turn, spent all last weekend scanning in old pictures and putting together a slideshow of years past set to Christmas music . My addition to the multimedia presentation was requesting that he include “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC in the music (my other request of “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” by NSync was denied).
My nephew spent Christmas Eve taking pictures of me (with his dad’s old iPhone) as I was taking pictures of him. A picture of a picture if you will.
As a side note, he received a new iPod touch from Santa and we showed him how to use the Facetime app today. He has since proceeded to Facetime me approximately 1,000 times over the course of the day. Hah.
He was also so excited about the monkey (me) and moose (Danny) crafts that his family made for us as presents that he could not even wait until Christmas Eve dinner was over to give them to us. I have to admit, they are pretty awesome.
This morning we slept in a bit and then exchanged gifts. Danny and I are giving each other new kitchen countertops as our main Christmas gift, so, we only did a small gift exchange. Gracie, on the other hand, got hooked up with a new stuffed toy, dog treats and a bone.
Clearly, she was super impressed.
Later, we headed down to Danny’s sisters house to exchange more presents and see what Santa brought the kids (they got hooked up).
We also spent some time with our OTHER niece (the furry one) who was super excited about our gift to her – a gift certificate for a free day at Dogs at Play (Gracie was SUPER sad when she heard that her cousin Shelby had never been there before.)
After a quick stop to see Danny’s Aunt, it was off to my parents house for our annual Christmas dinner. This includes eating until you feel like you may pop. There were also presents involved.
The events of the past couple of years have really taught both Danny and I a lesson about how quickly things can change and how important it is to soak up the little moments that life offers up. Even though this holiday season has had moments of sadness over the family members we have lost – it has also been a time to create new memories and enjoy the company of each other and our families.
So, from our little family to yours – Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
