We love being home for Christmas. It felt surreal to have school scheduled the third week of December so that our first day off would be December 23. I’m sure a lot of people were happy that December 22 ended up being an online learning day due to bitter cold. I had planned on Friday being the day to bake festive sugar cookies and baking seemed perfect for a snow day that was too cold to play in. Before Christmas Even when my parents came over there was time to wrap presents and put together puzzles. Hubby went shopping and prepared a magnificent prime rib for my parents and our family. My mom gave the older three crisp $50 bills in holiday holders from the bank along with candy and bought Natalie a Lego marble run kit and Little Woodzeez and they all were super happy that Christmas was finally upon us. My dad loved his annual calendar I made and my mom was able to muster a smile for the 1,000 piece Christmas Carol puzzle I bought for her. Come on, how could I resist when her name was given to her based on knowing where her first name came from?
The next morning all of us except Kate were awake soon enough to enjoy a beautiful sunrise that made our white Christmas look even more amazing. Thanks to the Dollar Tree I had purchased six different kinds of wrapping paper for the different members of our family. Plaid for Hubby, Grinch for me, snow scenes for Kate, Elf movie for Danny, Santa and his reindeer for Michelle and pandas for Natalie. Soon Kate joined in on unpacking their stockings and unwrapping their presents. I have to say that I haven't seen children so overjoyed on Christmas morning in a long time. I think they have learned to be very specific with their wish lists. lol. Kate got the exact make up she wanted among other things she requested + Hubby and I surprised her with luggage for upcoming volleyball tournaments, etc. And the make up mirror her birth family sent her will be perfect for traveling as well! Danny's dream of having an Xbox came true simply because we couldn't decide what else to get him and he is so happy we didn't get him the other things we were threatening to. Michelle's wish list had been the most precise, complete with Amazon links to things like an ink pen, wax seals, and a notebook + an extensive list of books she would be interested in. It was fun for me to pick books I knew she would like so no one who knows my love of the Lunar Chronicles should be surprised there were four Marissa Meyer books wrapped up for Michelle under the tree plus several books. Hubby and I also picked out a couple sweatshirts off Etsy that said "It's a great day to read a book" and "Just one more chapter" with a skeleton reading. Michelle wears the former a lot but has yet to find the right pants to wear the latter with. It may end up a present for one of my book club friends some day.... Natalie, as always, was beyond grateful for her presents, which ended up being many little ones that she enjoyed opening one by one. Although her wish list may have been the longest, I knew she would like anything we gave her and made quite a few substitutions (since I feared some of the things she asked for might be too young for her by next year). It was great to see her happily occupied all day long without even playing with everything she had gotten. We may have spoiled the kids this year (since we did postpone our Hawaii trip yet again) but Hubby and I were the most spoiled thanks to Apple. lol. He got a new watch & I got new headphones and both products are simply incredible at what they do.
I only had to buy one new set of pajamas to get a matching Christmas morning photo. Hubby, Kate & I still fit into ours from two years ago, I bought Danny a larger size and his were passed down to Michelle while Michelle's were passed down to Natalie and hers were put in the donation pile. We set up my phone on the mantel to get a picture with our amazing tree and I used my watch to take the picture but I'm sure all of us were wondering if it was actually going to work. Ha! We had such a relaxing day watching Church online, eating yummy leftovers, and enjoying the gifts we had gotten for one another. A very merry Christmas indeed.
Comments