This Christmas marked some big Firsts for us. First Christmas in our new house, and first Christmas both James and I have not been “home” (Tennessee) in our entire lives! The decision to stay home this year came pretty easily. The kids are getting older, and let’s face it, traveling for holidays is STRESSFUL. It was a little bitter sweet to be away from family, but we enjoyed creating our own little traditions and we’re looking forward to celebrating with our Tennessee family in a few days.
Christmas Eve day was pretty lazy for us. The kids stayed in their PJs and just vegged…
I had several “Group Gifts” wrapped under the tree to open throughout Christmas Eve and Day to keep the kids busy. One was this World Map floor puzzle that Knox opened while Sissy napped.
I’d dropped the ball on making cookies for Santa, so that’s how I spent my afternoon… Paula’s sugar cookie recipe is my absolute favorite (the powdered sugar and almond extract make it) and I used a standard eggless royal icing recipe to decorate.
We went to 5 o’clock service and attempted to get a few pics while running out the door.
Miss H has gotten a lot of good wear out of her holiday bonnet. She wore her matching jumper to church. I wanted to get pics, but she was adamant on wearing her coat. Either way, I think she looked like a living doll!
This was our first Christmas at our new church and it was PACKED. Such a beautiful service, but next year we’ll know to get there waaaaayyyy earlier.
We had the most eclectic, yet delicious “dinner” after church. Honey glazed ham on Hawaiian rolls with cheese, a freezer batch of dressing leftover from Thanksgiving, hot onion dip with crackers, cookies, nuts… Just snacks basically! There was absolutely no thought or planning behind the presentation, but it was just us so it was perfect :)
Watching a movie after dinner.
We decided to open 1 present each before bed.
Knox opening his present “from Hadley”…
He sees the Avengers logo and is immediately excited… It’s the Iron Man Quinjet!!!
Happy boy, great job, Sissy!
Then Hadley opened hers from Knox…
Again, all it takes is her seeing it’s something “princess” to get excited…
‘Punzel’s Castle!
Daddy’s turn, and his is a two-part gift…
Monogrammed doubles and highballs!
Mommy too…
YAYYY! The 50mm lens I’ve been wanting! I experimented a little with this on Christmas Day and I’m already just loving it :)
After gifts Daddy read The Night Before Christmas, then we set out some treats for the big guy and his reindeer…
Cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. Knox made sure we didn’t leave them out!
Sooooo excited to go to bed!
Then of course, it was time for Santa to get to work…
We went to bed absolutely exhausted and just praying that our early riser (Knox) would take it easy on us in the morning…
The rest to come!
2 comments:
Sounds like an easy, fun Christmas Eve! Can't wait to hear about your Christmas! :)
This was the first Christmas in our new house too. Love it! Also love that y'all stayed home. I'm sure the kids loved waking up in their own house to see what Santa brought :)
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