Christimas Celebrations (part 1)

Christmas. It is a sweet, sometimes sad, somewhat difficult time of year. I enjoy so much of the season, but have mixed feelings about much of it, too. So many movies and songs that really make a mockery of the entire thing. So much hype, so much money spent...   Then, there's the whole Santa Clause issue. We made up a man who gives us things we want to put our hope in. Is that a good idea? In some of the movies, he even can cause miraculous things to happen that go way beyond toy delivery. So, much of the entire season, I am torn. It is a love-hate kind of relationship.

Now that I have that laid out there, I can share the things that I love about the season.

Christmas cards... receiving them, not sending them. (sorry, I do enjoy sending them some years, but I don't feel pressured about them). I especially love getting the picture cards from young families that we don't see often. So sweet to see the kiddos growing up.

Gifts... buying and giving them. It is really fun to find things that we hope our grandchildren will enjoy. Sometimes we do good, sometimes not so much, but it is still fun. Some years I make little gifts for some friends, or, more likely, I come up with an idea and Les does the work! But, that is fun.

Getting together. That's the best part. Our family lives nearby, so we get together often, but I revel in every single time the family has time together. 

If anyone is still reading after all of that, I now will share a recap of family Christmas celebrations.

We had our family celebrations on Sunday, Dec. 21. Since all of our children are married and have a lot of Christmas parties to attend, a few years back, we just claimed the Sunday before Christmas to eliminate conflicts.
We were very happy to host the family gathering again, at our new old home, and the dining room is big enough for everyone to eat together, one adult table, and 2 kids tables. Even Nora sat with the kids, but not long enough to be in the picture!

After dinner, we posed for our annual family picture. OH MY. Is this not the most beautiful family you have ever seen! Loooooove this crazy group of people.

The children are READY to open gifts.

One of our big delights has been Carters growing interest in music. Les ordered a Mandolin for him, which was a huge surprise. He was playing songs by the end of the day!

Kylie asked for skates, so we bought them for the little kids. They were a big hit.

Lexis enjoyed the books we gave her, and Nora did too, for a minute.

Family togetherness!

 

 

Emily and I persuaded Les to put his electric train up. He got this train when he was 6, and it has been in an attic for the past 42 years, rarely taken down. We bugged him enough that he got it down and set it up for the kids. They all liked it, but Hudson  was mesmerized. Trains are his favorite things, have been since he joined the family at almost 3 years old.

 Les made this headboard for Abby. Libby found some headboards on Abby's pinterest boards, took a screen shot of one that we copied.  YAY, what a great idea.

After I saw Abby's, I mentioned that I would like one, so we put that on the list of projects to do after Christmas, but he surprised me by making one for us, too!

My favorite part of the day is the afternoon of casual play... kids skating, girls talking, guys and kids throwing the football around, making up silly games. Love those times so much.

First Christmas celebration complete... more to come.