Is Christmas reallllllyyyy over? I cannot believe how quickly this holiday went, and what do I have to show for it...bags under my eyes, 5 extra pounds on the scale, luggage spread all over the house, and TONS of wonderful memories!
I snuck down to Wilmy last Wednesday to get in a little extra time with my parents and grandparents before the madness began. And let's just say that I packed ALL wrong for the weather. Me with my sweaters and boots in the 75 degree weather...not good! Luckily, it cooled down a little in time for Christmas Eve. Kyle joined me on Thursday, and our families went to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo together. I'm still trying to decide my thoughts on that one...very well done, but still a little scarred from some of the scenes...definitely not your light and fluffy movie!
Thursday marked the beginning of our time with Kyle's family, and we were with them through Christmas morning. Can I just say how weird it is to be in the same town as your parents but not be staying with them!? But, we had a WONDERFUL time with them! We did the 4pm Christmas Eve service at Kyle's church (where his daddy is the rector), and it was super fun to see all the adorable children totally decked out in their Christmas sweaters! Kyle's dad snuck home between the 6pm and 10:30pm services to join us for a delicious feast-- bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin, rosemary potato's au gratin, green beans, rolls, and cheesecake for dessert. And this began the yummy eating that didn't stop until we left to come home yesterday!
 |
| The Delicious Feast! |
 |
| Kyle, Ry-Ry, and Pappy...sporting their crowns from the "Poppers" |
Christmas morning is always fun at Kyle's house, and I got the privilege of being the Elf this year, aka, present deliverer! We were definitely on the good list this year and got lots of wonderful goodies! My highlights from Round 1 of gifts were...
1. TOMS...well technically a picture of them since they're on backorder...but I can be patient!
2. A certificate for a Massage
3. A nice big gift card to LOFT!!!
 |
| Kyle & His Momma! |
 |
| Santa definitely left lots of goodies for us! |
 |
| Ryan loves his new putter! |
 |
| Cooper couldn't help playing in all the wrapping paper! |
 |
| Lilly wouldn't cooperate for the picture, but she got a brand new pink and green collar and a pink leash! |
We headed over to my parents house midday on Christmas and had about an hour of calm before the storm of people piled into our house! We did our lil' family gift exchange, and I have no pictures to show for it because I kept telling myself I'd take pictures later. Of course that never happened!
The big excitement was over the Ipad my Dad got for my Mom, and I was super excited for my 12 month Birchbox subscription and nice chunk of change....too bad it will be going straight to paying off grad school! Ah, the joys of being an "adult."
And, around 3pm the first wave of Clan McLeod arrived, and they just kept on a' coming until all 18 of us were crammed into my parents modest sized home! There was absolutely no room for everyone, which just made it that much more entertaining! This was the first Christmas of my grandparents being in their new retirement community, and we all gathered there on Monday morning for breakfast and memory sharing. I know it was so special to them for us to all be there together!
There are 9 of us in the younger generation, and we just have the best time, playing games (even if we do get super competitive), watching movies, and eating constantly! We added something knew to our activities list, which was that we all went out for drinks together to help my cousin, Daniel, celebrate his 21st birthday! It was literally 3 days of constant laughter and fun and absolutely NO sleep whatsoever!
Did I mention that I'm going to need a vacation from my vacation? And, again, I'm sorry for the ZERO pictures that I have from our time with my family, but I can honestly say we were just that busy having fun!
And, not that we needed a reminder of how incredibly precious that time was, but we unfortunately got just that.
On our last night at home, Kyle found out some news that just put everything into perspective. One of his friends from work was killed in a car accident on Tuesday. She was just 24 years old. While we were celebrating amazing times with our families, another family was broken. Such a good reminder cherish each and every day, and love with all of our hearts.
I hope you all had very Merry Christmases full of laughter and love!
Looks like y'all had a fabulous Christmas!!! Love the picture with the doggie- so cute! And I don't own Toms but those are just so adorable, I may just have to! What a sad way for that girl's family to spend the holiday though, it really puts everything into perspective, you're right.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a wonderful Christmas! So sorry to hear about Kyle's friend...her family will be in my prayers.
ReplyDeletei'm sorry about Kyle's friend...it really does put things into perspective.
ReplyDeleteYou had the same Christmas PJ's as my sister and I! Even at 23 and 15 we still do matching ones each year :)
Wasn't it awful with it being so hot at Christmas? It looks like you guys had a great time celebrating! I hate that you guys received such bad news, but it really makes you appreciate every day you have!
ReplyDelete