Christmas Celebrations

Happy Tuesday, friends! I thought I'd share some Christmas pictures here for my own sake that never got posted yesterday. I don't know why I just didn't share them all then, but here goes.

Every year on Christmas eve, we go to our church's candlelight service, then to my dad's for Christmas with him, Sandy, our nephews and either their mom or dad, my step brother, and my sister Trish and her son. I remember doing this all of my life and always look forward to the night.

We always get Todd to take our pictures for us, because he knows how Trish and me like them. He does a good job and takes no less than forty every single time and I weed through. I did take one of my dad and stepmom as well, but I also promised her I wouldn't post it on the internet. I'm going to honor that and keep my promise.

We all came home after this, some of the guys left to go see a friend, and Todd and I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I finished wrapping presents and got their candy for the stockings ready at the same time. I have zero pictures of us here that next morning, but after opening gifts, we watched Elf, then got dressed to leave for Mom's at 11:30. 

Thanks again to my hubby for these pictures. My favorite thing about this day is that Mom and Bill always invite Todd's parents to join us. How fortunate are we that our parents are such great friends? They even exchange gifts with one another and I just love their relationship. We eat lunch, we clean the kitchen, we open the gifts, we eat dessert, we visit, laugh, sometimes cry, and genuinely enjoy one another. This day always feels very sweet. Some years it's a little sadder because not all of us are together, but we certainly understand why we can't accomplish that. 

We left Mom's around four, then sat and rested for a bit before my dad, Sandy and Trish came over for appetizers for dinner. This is another tradition we love and it got started when the boys were little and wanted to show their grandparents what Santa brought for them. We've just continued on with it all these years, and I wouldn't change it for all the money in the world. After they left and everything was clean once again, we got changed into our pajamas and Todd watched a movie while I read my book and cuddled with Oakley. 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. ❤