Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Merry Christmas, 2024!

As it turned out, we did not have to rouse all of the kids out of bed for Christmas morning. We only had to rouse one of them. The girls were up and moving on their own but Chase was dead to the world, so around 8am they started to nudge him awake. I feel like there have been years when all three kids were bouncing on our bed before 7am. I feel like 8 is a good compromise.

So I had seen an idea on social media for family members to write notes to each other on Christmas Eve, and put the notes in one another's stockings. Then on Christmas morning, everyone can begin the day by reading the notes. I thought it sounded so sweet. But like I said, on Christmas Eve night, we were all so tired that we decided to alter the plan a little. After we gathered in the kitchen and made our annual walk-with-eyes-closed to the living room, we got cozy in our usual spots and then instead of diving right into our stockings, we took a few minutes to go around the room and each say what we loved and admired about one another. 

I'm telling you, it was the very best part of my Christmas Day. There was such a special feeling in our family as we went around and expressed love for each other. We were all in tears. I especially loved hearing what the kids had to say to their dad. I feel like dads often go under-appreciated, and to hear the kids tell Troy what an example he is to them and how much they want to be like him was just so beautiful. I hope we always do something like this at some point during our Christmas celebrations. 

Then of course came the stockings. I found these little lego Dungeons and Dragons surprise mini figure packages - that was a favorite stocking stuffer this year for sure.

 


Another really fun thing was that each of the kids picked out gifts for everyone in the family. When they were younger we had them draw names and just give to one person. But now that the two bigger kids have jobs, they really wanted to choose gifts for each person in the family, and they were super thoughtful. Chase found this delightful book for me, not knowing that those stories had been a big part of my childhood.


Romney picked out this handmade hurricane lamp from This is the Place Park - it's so cool. We are all excited to put it to use:

 

She made us giggle by wrapping her gifts to us in silly bags:

 

 

She gave Chase a dinosaur-shaped climbing gear bag, and Emma a hilarious sad-turtle purse that she was dying over, as you can see:


 


Emma gave legos to her siblings, a LOTR hoodie and mug to Troy, and a Snow White figurine to me. Chase gave a beautiful Ansel Adams book to Troy and paintable DnD figures to his sisters. Romney gave me a Jane Austen trivia game and some delightful Edward Gorey postcards. I loved seeing their thoughtfulness.




Other gifts from the year were a rain gauge, a pocket knife and an auto tool box for Troy. For Chase, a climbing harness, climbing pants and a manga set. For Romney, earrings, a cool long coat, bath bombs and a Purple Pillow. For Emma, more legos, cropped hoodies, and a couple of pretty rings. And for me? I got a pair of Duck Feet shoes, my absolute favorite. Plus a bluetooth speaker for my office and a stoneware mixing bowl. I'm very spoiled.

Later in the day, Romney's friends popped over to eat some of our leftover biscuits and gravy (the kids don't want anything else on Christmas morning!) and exchange gifts. They had decided to do a lego exchange and I thought it was so sweet that they got together at our house to build legos for a bit. Romney's boyfriend came first and he had thoughtful little gifts for each of us. So cute.


In the afternoon Troy and Chase went to pick up Grandma while I worked on dinner. Grilled pork loin, vegetables and roasted potatoes. And of course a movie - we watched Klaus, a favorite. 

We had a few other visitors as well - the Neilsons came with warm sweet rolls, the Romneys came with a plant and cards for the kids. A busy boisterous day with lots of love and friends and family.


Finally in the evening we got the house settled down and dishes done. We gathered around the table to light the candles on our Emmanuel Wreath. Each candle represents one of the names of Jesus found in scriptures, and each name is associated with a specific verse or two. We light the candles, read the verse, and talk about what that name of the savior means to us. Redeemer, Advocate, Wonderful Counselor. I'm glad we saved this for Christmas night.






And then. And THEN. Oh no, we were not done with our day yet. 

Time to begin The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring, Disc One.

I think I fell asleep.

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