For 27 years, Christmas Day was spent opening gifts and spending time at my parents house during the morning. Then for lunch, we'd meander down the road to grammy and papa's for lunch and presents. And the evening was spent at the farm with more eating and more present opening.
But there comes a time when traditions must change. Families grow. People move away. Transitions become necessary.
This year, my dad suggested celebrating the weekend after Christmas. Since Caleb worked the day after Christmas, it would have been too much to travel with a 7 month old for a quick 24 hour trip. We'd all much rather take it a bit slower and extend the festivities if at all possible. Thus the weekend idea was born.
This year, my dad suggested celebrating the weekend after Christmas. Since Caleb worked the day after Christmas, it would have been too much to travel with a 7 month old for a quick 24 hour trip. We'd all much rather take it a bit slower and extend the festivities if at all possible. Thus the weekend idea was born.
Even though I love this idea, that means one thing. Christmas Day is left being... different. Remember, I've done the same thing for 27 years.
This year, we were excited to have Christmas morning with our new little family of 3. I quickly and messily wrapped Selah's presents Christmas morning (all of which she used before I wrapped them). Hey... when they grow as fast as they do, you want them to wear things as soon and much as possible before they don't fit anymore! Of course we busted out our trusty video camera to capture her first Christmas. I would say she did pretty well opening her gifts. Here are some shots of a little photo shoot we did with her Christmas morning pre-present opening.
We spend all of Christmas Eve with Caleb's parents. This year was special for more reasons than one. Jason and Sarah have been in Honduras for the past 2 Christmases; this year we were all reunited and this time, there were 2 new additions! Aren't they just too cute?
We took off for Canton Friday morning; thankfully Selah has mastered the car seat and 99% of the time does extremely well in the car. She played quietly by herself and drifted off to sleep. Ahh bliss. The ride home on the other hand was the 1% of trips that are downright miserable. But anyway, Christmas with my family was full of laughs. I love it when we're together, play fun games and just laugh. It's refreshing. I'm not very good at capturing the moments with my camera so unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the weekend other than the ones I swiped from my mom's Facebook account :-)
We had our traditional Christmas Eve "picnic" which has moved to the dining room table because we're all getting too old and sitting on the floor just plain ol' hurts now. I wish I had a picture of the table before we messed it all up. It was gorgeous! And my parents... TOO CUTE. They had a menu all planned out with 4 courses and here's the cherry on top... they served us! It was such a nice gesture and true picture of serving others.
We spend all of Christmas Eve with Caleb's parents. This year was special for more reasons than one. Jason and Sarah have been in Honduras for the past 2 Christmases; this year we were all reunited and this time, there were 2 new additions! Aren't they just too cute?
We took off for Canton Friday morning; thankfully Selah has mastered the car seat and 99% of the time does extremely well in the car. She played quietly by herself and drifted off to sleep. Ahh bliss. The ride home on the other hand was the 1% of trips that are downright miserable. But anyway, Christmas with my family was full of laughs. I love it when we're together, play fun games and just laugh. It's refreshing. I'm not very good at capturing the moments with my camera so unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the weekend other than the ones I swiped from my mom's Facebook account :-)
We had our traditional Christmas Eve "picnic" which has moved to the dining room table because we're all getting too old and sitting on the floor just plain ol' hurts now. I wish I had a picture of the table before we messed it all up. It was gorgeous! And my parents... TOO CUTE. They had a menu all planned out with 4 courses and here's the cherry on top... they served us! It was such a nice gesture and true picture of serving others.
4 generations
Mmm dessert
A nostalgic gift from my brother
And another adorable thing... my dad (Selah's Popi) made her a little cardboard house to play in. If she could crawl, and boy does she want to SO badly, she would have had a blast crawling through it. In the meantime, we just placed her inside :-)
While my usual Christmas Day traditions made a few transitions this year, I was still able to say "I'll be home for Christmas" as I spent Christmas in my home with the 2 loves of my life. And even though my family celebrated Christmas 2 days after the actual holiday, it was still spent in the home I grew up in with family whom I dearly love. Turns out, it doesn't have to be on the actual day in order for it to be familiar or "just like you remembered it". Just as long as you're all together creating memories, you can still be home for Christmas in more ways than one.
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