Not the whole year, just Christmas.
Because Christmas memories need to be recorded somewhere and a blog about the everyday ordinary is a good place to do just that.
Also, there's nothing ordinary about Christmas.
So how was your holiday in this strange year that feels like it might never end? Ours was smaller than originally planned, quieter than originally planned, and almost as sweet as originally planned.
Holding plans loosely is the key to success in the year that was.
Daughter2 and her groom arrived late afternoon on Christmas Eve Eve. We snacked on a delicious cheese ball my neighbor had dropped off earlier and hubs grilled salmon for dinner. We played a little pool too, before calling it a night.
She takes her game playing seriously, but what can I say... she's got my DNA.
It rained hard all day long on Christmas Eve and I have to say it felt quite cozy. We bundled up for a walk after breakfast, then spent the rest of the day in front of the fire, chatting, playing games, and prepping our dinner. I'd ordered a Prime Rib from
Kansas City Steaks and it was perfect. They offer an assortment but this one was seasoned and tied so all we had to do was cook.
And trust the probe we have in our oven when it says it's done approximately 42 minutes before we thought it should be. But it was and I would order again from them.
Of course there were pjs to open. Not sure how my sons-in-law feel about matching pjs, but I buy them anyway and they humor me by wearing them on Christmas Eve. fyi-the pjs are still wrapped in this picture. Not sure how he feels about a photo in his pjs on my blog. teehee.
Does he read here?
I didn't take a lot of pictures this year. There were just the four of us so most of my photos are of the soon-to-be marrieds. We kind of just soaked up the moments and the company.
Speaking of...my favorite moment of all the moments was this one-
I had my wedding dress made into a robe for my daughter2 and surprised her with it on Christmas morning. To be honest, this was one of those gifts I'd built up in my head and I worried a little bit that her reaction might disappoint me.
It did not. Oh my word. Best thing ever.
I'd written her a note to go with the robe and also had a picture of me in the actual dress and her in the actual dress (she tried it on once a long time ago) in the envelope in case she didn't recognize it, but it only took a few seconds before she said, "Wait...is this your wedding dress?"
Cue the water works. It was so precious and so special and I'm not sure I'll ever give another gift that felt as personal and as perfect and as joyous as this one.
I used a company called Unbox the Dress and they were so nice to work with. I had some pieces left over after they made the robe so the seamstress also made a pocket square for hubs to wear at the wedding and two angel Christmas tree ornaments, one for each of my girls.
In other gift giving news, hubs asked for a few suggestions of things to buy for me and I jotted down some of the usual... makeup, socks, etc...but also said I wanted something not on the list-surprise me.
And he absolutely did. We had fun guessing what was in this package. It looked a lot like the armoire in Beauty and the Beast, but I was fairly certain that wasn't it-
Even better! A popcorn machine! The super deluxe kind. The kind I cannot wait to show my grandsons. Popcorn is my snack of choice so this will be fun.
The day passed at a leisurely pace. We had our go-to Christmas dinner of ham with a side of pineapple stuffing followed by too many Christmas cookies (again!) and more game playing and really just a very relaxing holiday.
Of course we were missing family, nobody more so than the South Korean contingent, but we Facetimed with our grandsons, and saw all their new goodies and felt all the excitement and joy little boys bring to this very special holiday.
We ended our day the way every Christmas Day is meant to end...
...grateful for family near and far, for all the love between us, and for a Savior born this day.