Christmas

Christmas December 31, 2014

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 12:25 pm

Here we are on the other side of our Christmas celebrations. Our family enjoyed 5 days of Christmas. A lot of people talk about surviving Christmas, but that is a concept I have never understood. I love Christmas. I love spreading the celebrations out over the week. It’s like life is one big giant party. I love shopping for presents. I love giving gifts and watching my loved ones open them. Truthfully, I love getting presents too. It’s just fun to see what others got me and if it’s cash or a gift card, it’s fun to know that I have guilt free shopping in my future. Christmas time means quality time with family. It means good food. I love it. I am like a big kid. It’s still magical to me.

In a lot of ways, it felt like this was Owen’s first Christmas. Last year he slept through a great deal of our gatherings and he had no ability to open presents. In fact, we didn’t even get him Christmas presents from Jeremy and I since his needs were small and he would never remember that holiday anyway. Because last year was so low-key for Owen, I was super excited to see what he would think of Christmas. On Christmas Eve morning we decided to open our presents together as our family of three. Owen enjoyed pulling small items out of his stocking. When it came to actually opening presents, he was more interested in the wrapping paper and bows then the actual gifts. I was slightly disappointed that he wasn’t more interested in his new toys but Owen had a great time and that is really all that matters. The highlight for me was having a room full of wrapping paper on the floor. The sign of a good Christmas is wrapping paper everywhere! I don’t know why, but it really made it feel like Christmas for me. That afternoon, we made Owen’s favorite meal – turkey! It as a yummy meal! The evening of Christmas Eve was spent at my in-laws house playing Christmas games with the extended family. The games were fun and we all walked away with a small prize. It was a great night and a great day. It was the perfect way to kick off all our Christmas celebrations.

Christmas Day, we drove up to my Grandma’s house. It’s nice because things don’t start until noon, so the morning isn’t too rushed. Once the family had all arrived, we quickly dove into the present opening. The kids all draw names for each other and the adults do an optional gift exchange game. This year, Jeremy and I walked away with the gifts that we brought and we are okay with that. We always bring something we like! Owen got a ball pit from cousin’s family. We didn’t open the box for days because Owen loved playing on the box so much. He loved standing on it, sitting on it, dancing on it. In fact, this box started a love/need to stand on all boxes at our Christmas gatherings. It’s the funniest thing. After all the gifts were opened, we enjoyed a great meal, yummy desserts and time to just hang out and catch up with family that we don’t get to see often. Owen did great considering he didn’t have a nap the entire time we were there. He slept most of the ride home and we made a quick stop to wish Nana and Papa a “Merry Christmas”.

The day after Christmas is always a day that we view as a celebration as well. We head down to Portland to hit the after Christmas sales. This year we had both our family Christmas’ still yet to come so we didn’t want to buy ourselves something that we still might receive. Only the best deals might sway us. Surprisingly, we didn’t find that many great deals, but we did get some practical items we needed. One of the highlights of the day was selecting our own box of See’s candy since we were given a gift card by a family in our church. It’s been a long time since I’d stepped foot in a chocolate shop. The ladies at the counter gave all of us a sample, even Owen. He was a happy camper and wanted us to keep feeding him chocolate long after the sample was gone. It was a fun day. Not a super shopping day, but it was still fun to see and explore. In fact, we finished our Christmas shopping that day. It’s not often you can say that you finished your Christmas shopping after Christmas. I guess that is one of the bonuses of waiting to celebrate with our immediate families.

Saturday was Christmas with my side of the family and Sunday was Christmas with Jeremy’s side of the family. Both gatherings boasted a yummy spread of food and lots of holiday cheer. On my side Owen is the only kiddo and on Jeremy’s side, he is one of five kiddos. Sunday was fun to see all the cousins together. There was lots of playtime. On Saturday, Owen got a ton of Duplos to add to his collection, so of course, I spent time making a house that afternoon. It was soon destroyed just like all of my other Lego creations. I love my family so much and I look forward to the times when we are all together. My sister will be moving in the near future so she and my brother-in-law won’t be just 20 minutes away. I’m trying to enjoy the moments that they are in Lewis County while I have them. Luckily, they won’t be too far away, but things are changing right around the corner and it makes me want to make the most of the moments I have now.

Overall, 5 days of Christmas isn’t a bad way to do things! Also, this week is birthday week for my sister and brother-in-law so we’ve had even more family time. We’ve also gotten to spend some time with out of town family while they are around. I love my niece and nephews so spending time with them is always special since we don’t all live close. I might love Christmas presents, but I love my family even more and the time that we spend together makes Christmas special. It doesn’t matter what day we celebrate, as long as we’re together, it’s Christmas and it’s loud and it’s fun and it’s usually a high calorie day. I wouldn’t have it any other way!