Christmas cards are still on our wall and I’m not even mad about it. Usually, after Christmas, I’m a little anxious to get my house back in order and even though I get decor taken down, I let the cards linger a little longer.
This year, our house is a construction zone and there is very little order. The clutter on the fridge is getting overlooked by the thick layer of dust on our floors, the tools littering the patio and the piles of clothes in the hallway.
We open gifts slowly, and we’ve done it that way since Hallie was a toddler. Presents are opened one at a time and I love that it gives all of us a chance to enjoy everyone’s reactions. They get excited to receive. They get excited for each other. They get excited to give. I want to slow it down as much as possible. I will miss this energy when they are grown. So. Much. Energy. These kids are always a good time.
Steve thought he was so funny wrapping an Apple product in a different Apple product box.
Hunter was very specific when he asked for three hard copies of the Book of Mormon. Which is fitting because I usually try to give everyone a book for Christmas. I’m not entirely sure what his plan is but I love it.
Hunter gifted his grandparents one of the cutting boards he’s made and of course they loved it.
We rotate who we give gifts to in Steve’s family. We had his sister this year and she wanted some funds to do some things for her 1st grade classroom. We were happy to oblige and we threw in each of the boys favorites when they were in 1st/2nd grade.
Hallie was able to call us that morning and she watched some of the present opening and it was almost as if she was with us in person. I’m grateful we’ve officially made it through two Christmases without her and I’m looking forward to her being in our home again next Christmas.
We spent the afternoon lounging around and playing games together outside and I loved every minute of it.
I think we’re finally coming out of the Christmas hangover – although our home still looks like a bomb went off and it’s partly due to the remodel and partly due to the boys being home from school and we’re just going to roll with it for the next week until they go back to school. All the days are running together and my bed time seems to be getting later and later as Christmas break goes on. Being a mom of teenagers is absolutely awesome and exhausting at the same time.
Christmas Eve, we found ourselves at Bass Pro Shop for our annual picture with Santa – the timing wasn’t intentional, that just happened to be the only day available when I booked the appointment. Bennett’s convinced that is when we should always see him so who knows if that’s how the schedule will work out next year.
And naturally, if we’re at Bass Pro Shop we have to play a friendly game of hide and seek – which ends up being the highlight of our visit.
We spent the afternoon visiting Steve’s parents, visiting some neighbors, preparing our luminaries and getting ready to host our annual Christmas Eve dinner with friends. There were no spills. No utensils in the candles. And the adults didn’t have to clean up dinner. We’re really enjoying our kids getting older!
You know what we’re also getting better at – the chimes. We started this when our kids were young and it was loud and chaotic and it was hard to decipher the song. I’m happy to report we’re not only improving, we’re moving into the impressive stage. It’s about time for us to take our Christmas Eve show on the road.
Just missing Hallie this year. And next year when Hallie is back, Madi will be gone. And when Madi gets back Hunter (and possibly Grace) will be gone and then Jake and Bennett…we did the math and it’s likely we won’t have a full crew for many years to come.
We drove through the neighborhood and enjoyed our neighbors’ lights and luminaries – it was warm enough, no hot chocolate needed.
We came home and said goodbye to our friends for the night.
Our boys exchanged their sibling gifts and they are always my favorite interactions. They are so excited to give and it shows. It’s a special way to start our gift giving.
Steve read Twas the Night Before Christmas which just gets better as the kids get older.
And then they scurried to bed with great anticipation for the morning.
At the end of November, we were talking with Hallie and she was having a rough day/week. It’s so hard to watch your kids struggle and as much as we wanted to help her out, there really wasn’t much we could do in our once-a-week conversations. But I had the thought to send her some Christmas songs – something to bring a smile to her face. I picked out a few songs and sent them through messenger. A few days later, when we could talk with her, she asked I could email the songs over, she was having a hard time listening to them through messenger. As I prepared the email that evening – an idea was born: I would send her a Christmas song every day of December. And then the idea morphed – I would include her girlfriends who were also serving missions.
I created a spreadsheet that included every day and the songs I would send. Because they’re serving missions, I needed the songs to be Christ-centered which is harder to find than I thought it would be. I was looking for variety – not 7 versions of O Holy Night. And I spent a lot of time crafting the perfect playlist. About halfway through the month, Hallie asked if there was any way I could send even more songs. So I doubled up, sending two songs every night. And then this last week 3 or 4 songs.
I sent an email every single day – almost forgetting a few times but luckily I stay up late enough that eventually I remembered before I shut down the computer for the night.
I know Hallie and her friends have loved waking up to a new song each and every day – but I’ve been surprised what giving this gift has done for me. I’m a fan of Christmas music but much of what I listen to falls under the “Holiday Pop” label. This little project has pushed me to find music – not just hymns – that testify of Jesus Christ and his birth and it’s been beautiful.
So many different songs. So many artists.
It’s brought a special spirit to my Christmas season.
Last year I shared a song I stumbled upon, O Come All Ye Unfaithful and it became an instant favorite.
This year, one of my kid’s favorite artist Forrest Frank, released a Christmas album and there is one song in particular that struck a chord with our family and it became the most played song in our house, CHRISTmas.
A quick recap of December as it relates to Christmas…(there’s plenty to recap unrelated to Christmas but that is a post for another day!)
Christmas Sunday at church – all the boys participated by singing. Briggs in the primary choir and the other boys in the youth choir. Bennett had a special trio with friends and Cannon sang while doing the bells.
Our neighborhood had a meet and greet at the retention basin – hot chocolate and the Nativity. Cannon was as wise as they come.
Steve’s family has a tradition of “Santa Cookies” – something passed down from his grandparents. Our family has never made the cookies so we were grateful to Steve’s sister who was willing to come over and teach us the ways.
When my parents were in town we visited the Mesa Temple Christmas lights. I remember bundling up in years past and grabbing hot chocolate to walk around the temple grounds and we have been nothing what warm and jackets were optional.
I was in charge of the Christmas Relief Society lesson and I had this vision of pictures of Jesus Christ serving as a background. We invited people to bring their favorite picture of the Savior and several of us brought multiple pictures. It turned out better than expected – a beautiful display of so many depictions of Jesus Christ to celebrate this Christmas season.
Our friend and neighbor hosted the annual gingerbread houses on the last day of school – an event I was disappointed to miss out on last year when Cannon was in the hospital (although they saved him a kit and he did it when he got home which was such a sweet gesture). I love that my kids are getting older and require zero supervision and they produce beautiful and creative houses.
We gathered last night with Steve’s family. In the past, it’s been a talent show, but it’s morphing into something new and my kids couldn’t be more excited about the shift! We enjoyed soup, a puppet nativity, a family discussion and a game to end the night where everyone walked away a winner.
Bennett rocked several holiday concerts. His first concert was the same night as his soccer game and Bennett had already negotiated earlier this semester that he would not miss a soccer game for a concert. As luck would have it, his teacher recognized 4 soccer players missing from their concert was over 25% of their group so he moved their performance time after their game. But it was a super tight turn and they landed on the stage in their soccer jerseys. They had enough time before their 2 finale songs to quickly get changed.
The very next week he had to perform at 3 holiday dinners. That is a large commitment the week before finals. They performed the same songs as the week before but this time we got to buy an expensive dinner to eat during the concert. Luckily, my mom was in town and was a great table guest.
The pictures don’t capture everything – Christmas parties, gift exchanges with friends, delivering bread to the neighborhood as a youth group, delivering Christmas cards, frequent visits to the Christmas house, Christmas movies and puzzles, sending Hallie and her missionary friends Christmas songs every single day…Its been a fun December. And the festivities are winding down. We’re. in full blown Christmas vacation mode and it’s chaotic and exciting. Only a few more days left…
