Christmas 2014

Christmas Eve started with Steve and Carolyn skiing, and me going to see the Nutcraker with Nikki, her mom, and our friend Julie. At about 3pm, we all arrived back home and were ready for our night together.  The girls put on their fancy christmas dresses, which were much appreciated hand-me-downs from their friends Annie and Kate.  We poured cocktails and started the fun.  When steve saw Carolyn in her fancy dress drinking a "cocktail," he immediately said how much Grandpa Harry would have liked to have seen that.  So we spent some time reminiscing about Grandpa Harry, and what he meant to all of us.  We then facetimed with family in Ohio, opened gifts, enjoyed a simple meal of spaghetti and meatballs.  Our next door neighbor RJ joined us for dinner.

The girls slept until about 9 on Christmas morning.  They immediately came out to see if Santa had brought the gifts they wished for.  Carolyn wished for a pair of wooden clogs.  Lizzie asked for a green present with red paint.  Santa delivered, so it must mean that they were good this year!

We had many more packages from friends and family and from one another to open.  Carolyn especially loves the spirograph from Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Mike.  Lizzie has been busy with her magnetic blocks, and also really likes her Olaf hat.  Lizzie picked out a pink sweatshirt for Carolyn, while Carolyn bought Lizzie a board that you sit on (kind of like an indoor teeter totter).  A zipline toy and a remote control car were other favorites of the girls; a metal wind-up elephant riding a motorcycle brought the loudest squeals of delight.  I bought the family new camp-cooking supplies, so we got excited about what camping trips we should take together.  And, Steve got me the shoes I really wanted, plus some great new jewelry.  A trip to Toys-R-Us to pick out their own new toy from Grandma Carol was as much fun as opening gifts.  The girls both walked around the store and debated what they wanted.  Lizzie was sure she wanted a Thomas the Train set, until she had a last minute change of heart and went to the back of the store to go get the doll baby and carrier that she saw.  Carolyn settled on a microscope, and we are thinking about how we might be able to use that to do her science fair project next month.   We are blessed with the generosity and riches we had bestowed upon us this holiday season.  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccautz/15552713163/in/photostream/

One of the highlights was the party we had Christmas day. We invited friends to come over anytime after 4.  The house was a complete disaster at 3 with all of us still in pajamas and wrapping paper and gifts strewn about everywhere, but we pulled it together before our first guests arrived.  There were probably 30 of us.  We put out all the ingredients to make your own pizzas, so pizzas are coming out of the oven all night.  We set out a whole bar with a variety of mixers, so everyone starts mixing creative cocktails for one another.  The kids watch movies and play with new toys.  The adults laugh and talk and then snuggled in on the couch for an always amusing game of Cards Against Humanity.  It is such a fun night, and makes me thankful for the friends we have. (no photos, other than the blurry one of us playing games)

This year, Carolyn was very interested in the story of Jesus, and why we celebrate Christmas.  So, one of our special family gifts was our very own nativity scene.  A tiny little pewter set.