Every year I wonder if it’s really necessary to do a blogging recap of my Christmas. Turns out… yes, it is! Earlier this week I realized I had no memory of last Christmas. When I have such memory lapses, I refer to my blog, and I’m always grateful when there’s a post (though I’m still not sure how we spent Christmas Day last year because my blog post was more of a recap of the season than the actual day).
This won't be anything fancy or creative, but here's a recap of our Christmas season leading up to The Big Day (which I will document so in a year when I wonder, "What did we do on Christmas Day?" I will have an answer!)
We started off with Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
That weekend, we started working on our Charlie Brown mural.
I made 20 Christmas advent calendars to give to some of our family and friends. I got them all distributed before December 1st like a responsible advent calendar gifter! Then ours hung in the living room all month, and we didn't touch it a single time! There's a scripture and question to ponder for each day leading up to Christmas. We quickly found ourselves four days behind... then 22 days behind... then "try again next year."
Daisy and Zoe decorated the basement tree, and I LEFT IT ALONE!
We had our ward Christmas party, three in-studio dance performances, and a few December birthdays.
Scotty and I went on a Christmas date. We went to Mr. Mac to buy Scotty a new suit. Then we got a sandwich from Pretty Bird and some tacos and tres leches from Maize. Then we went to the Mat and Savanna Shaw concert, and it was wonderful!
My sister-in-law, Amber, had us over for dinner and a gift exchange.
The youth in our ward put on a Nativity play and did baptisms for the dead.
I went to lunch with two of my best friends in the whole wide world.
The elementary school had their Christmas singalong via Facebook Live (which I absolutely LOVE!!!) Zoe got to hold the letter “L,” and she was the best “L” holder I ever saw!
Scotty's mom had a Christmas party.
We decorated gingerbread houses at our neighbor's house.
We went to see Sing 2.
We visited Scotty's grandma on Christmas Eve (just he and I because they only allow two visitors at a time).
Scotty's dad had a Christmas party.
And that brings us to the night of Christmas Eve. When we got home from Scotty's dad's house, we drank Martinelli's and played Nativity BINGO (courtesy of one of our neighbors). Then all the kids got super hyper and literally bounced around the family room for hours (there was a yoga ball involved). Scotty took three naps on the couch (which he will deny, but I will attest that it's true!) while I worked on a puzzle in the middle of the chaos. Zoe put out milk and cookies for Santa. Then all the kids were given a hearty dose of melatonin and sent to bed.
Santa came!
We told the kids they could come out of their rooms at 6:30 (we had a couple of 4:00-4:30 mishaps). Eva was the only one still asleep at 6:30, but as soon as she realized it was Christmas, she flew out of bed and down the stairs.
Three months of preparation culminated in 15 minutes of unwrapping.
Scotty's mom and step-dad came down at 7:00 to see what the kids got for Christmas. One of our neighbors made us some scones, so we had a little morning snack before heading to my dad’s house for breakfast.
On the way home from my dad's house, we stopped at a park to play for about an hour. It was about 50 degrees but kind of windy. We had a big snowstorm the week before Christmas, and we thought we’d have a “leftover” white Christmas, but then we had a few warm-ish days, and most of the snow melted.
At home afterward, the kids played Animal Crossing, I read a book, and Scotty took another nap on the couch. Then we went to my mom's house. We swapped gifts, had lunch, and played a game.
Back at home, the kids played more Animal Crossing, Scotty beat me in a round of Wingspan (harrumph), Scotty's dad stopped by for a few minutes, then we went to Scotty's mom's house for dinner. Right before we left for Scotty's mom's house, Zoe and Eva went ballistic and started trying to break each other's toys. There was a lot of screaming, and we had to put some Christmas gifts in time out for a while, and we were late to Scotty’s mom’s house because we wouldn’t let Zoe and Eva get in the car until they apologized to each other. Good times. Good times.
By the end of the day, we were fat with Christmas food, completely exhausted, and sick of each other (I’ll be honest).
It wasn’t the best Christmas, nor was it the worst. It just sort of… was.
Even though you are saving your scripture advent for next year, please know that Cyndi's family loved it and appreciated your sending it to them (like a responsible adult).
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