Amy Scott's Thoughts

Last week, we were kicking off all of our Christmas celebrations and this week is the wrap-up to all of that holiday cheer! I love that our family celebrates Christmas over many days. We even keep celebrating after Christmas. We keep the Christmas joy going as long as we can. Christmas is truly a season and not just a day!

In the week since I last posted, we’ve had so many Christmas adventures. Last Monday, we watched The Muppet’s Christmas Carol. It’s a Christmas classic! We got Starbucks treats and drove around to look at Christmas lights. Tuesday, the boys had their first ever piano recital. Nana prepared a wonderful evening to highlight the boys and their piano skills. It was a great night to celebrate both the students and their teacher! We so appreciate all the hours that Nana has given to teaching our boys. It’s been a joy to watch them grow in their love and appreciation of music. They put in lots of practice for this recital and it paid off. We are so proud of them for being brave and working hard.

Wednesday was Christmas Eve and our family celebrated all day long! We started the day with cinnamon rolls. After breakfast, the boys opened their Christmas gifts and we took pictures in our matching pajama pants. We enjoyed a festive turkey lunch before heading to church for a candlelight Christmas gathering. Nana and Aunt Patty were part of the a chime choir that played before the gathering. We got there early to cheer them on! Our evening was spent watching White Christmas and playing Graham’s new game – Liar’s Uno!

Christmas morning started with the boys opening their stockings. We packed up and hit the road for GG’s house. We got there a little early so we could chat with GG before the masses created Christmas chaos. My extended family has grown quite large and it makes for a wild time! I love watching the kids open their gifts and connecting with family we don’t see often. When things started to wind down at GG’s house, we took off for Nana and Papa’s house. We played a new game called Camel Up. It’s a camel racing/betting game. It cracks up that were playing Liar’s Uno and betting on camels over Christmas. What life skills are passing on to the next generation?! We enjoyed a tasty dinner and one more card game before heading home to wrap up our Advent season. We lit the Jesus candle and once again reminded ourselves that the best gift of Christmas is Jesus. Christmas means nothing if the Savior isn’t at the heart of our celebration.

We have a tradition of shopping in Portland the day after Christmas. The boys focused on Rubik’s cubes and Pokémon cards. I purchased a pretty copy of The Tenet of Windfell Hall at Barnes & Noble. Jeremy selected a new board game, Everdell Farshore, for our collection. The highlights of the day were birding at the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge early in the morning and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory with special desserts to share.

Now our main focus is learning all our new Christmas games. The boys got so many games this year! I’ve been playing Tetris with our game storage to find homes for all these new additions to our collection. We’ve enjoyed quite a bit of family time around the table. We had friends over yesterday and learned some of their new Christmas games well. We have plans with friends and family this week and I’m sure more games will be learned and played! It’s been a lovely Christmas season and we are thankful for so much as reflect on 2025. We look forward to savoring the last few moments of this year before we welcome 2026! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Scotts!

We’ve had a quiet December so far… Or quiet-ish… Quiet for Graham and I… After the Christmas musical, Graham came down with a second round of whatever bug is going around. I also had what we called “Graham Lite” – similar bug, but a lighter version. It made for a lot of home time. Recovery was a top priority so our family Christmas plans could happen. Thankfully, all the resting paid off and we were able to celebrate Christmas all weekend long! We had back to back Christmas celebrations this week. Saturday was my family and Sunday was Jeremy’s family. The kids are now on Christmas break from school and enjoying extra time to play with their new gifts. We are in a slight lull of Christmas activity, but more Christmas cheer is still yet to come. Hopefully, I’ll be back with more to share soon! Merry Christmas!

It’s been a pretty sweet season around here! I laughed because I only took pictures of desserts for Thanksgiving! Otherwise, I was too caught up with the family time to remember to take photos. Honestly, I’m not great at capturing candid moments. I just set my phone aside and let the holidays unfold. We enjoyed two wonderful days of Thanksgiving meals with family. There is nothing quite like good food and times with loved ones. It’s a winning combination!

When we haven’t been eating, we’ve been playing board games. We invested in a new family game thanks to Black Friday savings. We bought Heat: Petal to the Metal. It’s been fun to learn a new game as a family. It’s similar to one Jeremy and I played in the past and enjoyed. The kids love the racing element. I’ve yet to win a game, but I’m happy to participate in a family activity. We’ve also played Yahtzee and Labyrinth in the last week as well. It’s so cozy on these dark winter evenings to gather around the table and play a board game together.

With Thanksgiving behind us, we dove right into some of our favorite Christmas traditions. We had our annual gingerbread house decorating day this last weekend. It’s a team effort. Everyone contributes to the final product. We aren’t professional decorators, but we have a great time! Owen requested a paper snowflake crafting session. We now have a blizzard of paper snowflakes decorating our living room. It adds another seasonal touch to our space. Sunday was the start of the Advent season. We have a new devotional this year that covers all the Sundays of Advent as well as a daily reading until Christmas. The kids have been eating daily chocolates from their Target Advent calendars. I love counting down to Christmas while keeping the true heart of the season in the forefront of our minds. These are some of my favorite days!