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!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 