Sunday, December 29, 2013

Christmas Festivities

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday that we managed to spread out throughout the month of December with various activities. Most of those were pretty low key. We really started enjoying ourselves once Patrick's peak season was over. He took off a few days before Christmas and the week after.

On December 21st, we drove down to Winchester to have the annual Jones Family Christmas Dinner. Patrick rarely gets to see his extended family, so he was excited to get to see his cousins that he hadn't been able to see in 2 years. He enjoyed visiting with them and catching up while the boys played in the gym with all the smaller cousins. On the way home we got to see lots of Christmas lights and even one house that had their display timed perfectly to music. You could tune-in to a radio station and hear the music through your car speakers. Another highlight that night was me making Nutella brownies. Patrick was in heaven and has requested them several times since. They have lots of dark chocolate cocoa and are very creamy. They're good, but I'll stick with my Nancy Hitchcock recipe as my fav.

The day of Christmas Eve-Eve, we made lots of treats to deliver to friends. We ding-dong ditched a few people which was great fun! The kids loved it! Jack even exclaimed at one point, "Dad, you betta huwy or that guy's gonna punch you in da face!"

We spent Christmas Eve going out for a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel and taking the boys to target to get a present for each other. The rest of the day was spent watching Christmas movies, wrapping presents, and tidying up the house to get ready for Santa. That evening after a dinner of Tilapia, veggies, and quinoa (had to balance out our deliciously naughty breakfast) we had a surprise visit from the pajama elves that really started to make things exciting. Before we sent the kids to bed we watched the bible video's of Jesus's birth on the iPad, and then read several Christmas themed books. We also sang some Christmas songs. I loved this (mostly) quiet moment with my family. It really brought the Spirit of Christ into our home. Usually I'm rushing to get the kids in bed, but I took my time and savored their presence and innocence. Once they were in bed, we finished up the wrapping, and Patrick assembled a 15ft trampoline in the garage. Great idea, amiright? I sure think so, and it happened to be mine. I thought it would be a lot more fun to jump where it was at least a little warmer and not windy. Patrick humored me and set it up so it would be safe by fastening pillows to the garage door railings to protect heads that might bounce too high.

Christmas morning was a blur of excitement, and we spent the rest of the day playing and jumping. I made a Kentucky Legend ham, green beans, sweet potato souffle, jello salad, and Sister Schubert rolls. Dad and Silvana came and ate with us and spent the rest of the evening with us. We had a great visit with them.

On Friday, Patrick's parents came and we had our visit with them. They brought Kaden with them, and the boys had a blast playing.  They also surprised the boys with a bulldozer power wheel. They were beyond excited. Thankfully, it was a fairly warm enough day that they were able to go test it out before it needed charging.

We drove to McMinnville later that evening and visited with Dad and Silvana and also got a surprise bonus of seeing G'ma and PaPa Hitchcock.

We spent the night at Mom's and had a fun Christmas party with them and all the Moffitt kids and their families, on Saturday. It's always a fun day. Mom and Joe pull out all the stops for thoughtful gifts, great food, and an inviting environment.

This has been our best Christmas yet. The older I get, and the more kids we have, the more I appreciate the moments of just being with our little family, and taking it all in. I know these days won't last and they will way too soon be gone, married, and spending holidays with their little families. I will boo hoo and miss them and secretly hope they all show up to spend the time with me. But I hope that when this happens, they will look back with fond memories and feelings of Christmas past...with their dear, sweet, amazing mother...oh, and father. :)






L to R: Jack, Mom, Will
I went to help Will make gingerbread houses with his Kindergarten class. So very fun! Loved just having that time with him. There were a lot of leftovers, so I was able to bring home some great stuff for us to use together. Win-Win!


Our annual Christmas puzzle. Will received several puzzles for Christmas, too. So happy he is a fellow puzzle lover.

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