We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and even a third "Christmas" once my brother was in town. I think it's safe to say we stuffed ourselves full of delicious home-cooked meals, holiday cookies, and libations to last a lifetime. I see some Weight Watchers in January...
Christmas Eve the tradition is always to go to Scott's parents' house in Troy to see his extended family on his mom's side. Her brother, his family, her sister, her family, and Scott's sisters and families come. It makes for a full house and one that keeps on growing. With a total of 6 kids under the age of 7 running around, the house is full of energy!
We let the boys open one gift under the tree during the day at home before going over to Scott's parents'. They each bought one another a gift from Five Below, so that's what we let them open. A Captain America motorcycle for Evan from Sean and the Hulk figurine for Sean from Evan! I'm surprised with the superheroes in our house suddenly, but it's a nice change.
We drove over to his parents' house after nap and went right into opening presents. We draw names (the adults), so it was fun seeing who had who. I got an amazing Disney tank top (it says Home with the castle in the background, pic to come soon)! The boys were really excited with their loot: a shark tent, Lego minifigures and accessories for Lego City, personalized travel Lego cases, movies, and more.
The rest of the family arrived so it was time for appetizers, cocktails, and conversation. The cousins all ran around playing with their new toys, trying not to get their dress clothes dirty. I was able to snap a quick picture of them before dinner. And I'm glad I did since pajamas seemed to quickly be changed into after dinner.
After dessert and Scott's annual poker tournament with his cousins, we hit the road with two sleepy, but excited boys. We made quick work putting them to bed and then played Santa filling the stockings and leaving out the toys. The boys picked out some gingerbread cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa...soy milk...nice touch, Evan!
And just like, all the weeks of researching, purchasing, wrapping, and setting up were over in a flash! This is the aftermath of Christmas morning...and I love it!
It was a mad rush after that point. We quickly ate a breakfast casserole I assembled the night before (it baked in the oven while we opened presents), showered, dressed, and packed a bag of new toys/books to take to church. We nabbed a great spot in church and tried to keep the boys quiet and happy while we listened to Father Tom. After church, we made a small picnic lunch for the living room and let the boys play with their new toys and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas (thanks ABC Family) while I started the cooking!
My parents came over at 2 and we went through another round of gifts.
My mom and I put together a nice spread for the six of us including beef tenderloin, twice baked potato casserole, broccoli casserole, salad, and rolls. Yum...and we finished the evening playing with the boys' new Monorail and playing our Disney Uno game from the parks with cookies and coffee.
The day after Christmas is surprisingly one of my favorites of the season. I love organizing and re-organizing to make room for all our new stuff. We made some nice changes in the house. One of which included moving an armoire from Evan's room that was taking up too much precious space to our computer room. It now serves the purpose of housing all our arts and crafts supplies, stationary, etc. I love the change!
Of course all this new found space in Evan's room meant we needed a trip to Ikea to get him a proper bookshelf.
Kids eat free all week plus making it out of there only spending a little over $100 was about as successful of a trip as one can hope for. Evan loves his new room and a floor lamp addition to Sean's room seemed to make his day too.
Post-Christmas festivities also included the arrival of my brother! He flew in late Saturday night from Portland so I picked him up from the airport and he spent the night at our house. I think the boys loved waking up Sunday morning to find Uncle Eric in their house! Breakfast take-out from our favorite downtown Plymouth spot and the boys immediately set up their Lego building station.
We left shortly after lunch to go back to my parents' house for a big Christmas dinner with all my extended family. Family traveled from the Kalamazoo area and even Canada to see Eric!
It was so nice having almost the entire family together! Obviously we missed my brother's wife, Ana, who couldn't get any extra time off of work and our extended family out in Plainwell. But, it was nice having my brother home and getting to see everyone over a nice dinner!
Last night, Scott and I had our friend Sarah watch the boys so we could go out to dinner at Traffic Jam and Snug in Detroit before the Great Lakes Invitational hockey game with Michigan vs. Northern Michigan at the Joe Luis Arena. We had fun, even though we're both not big into hockey or U of M. I was more excited to be out with my parents, brother, and Scott without two little boys.
We wish everyone enjoyed their holidays with their friends and families like we did! New Years' Eve is tomorrow night and we're planning on continuing the tradition of dinner at Mon Jin Lau! This will make...25+ years of going there on NYE! My parents will take the boys overnight as usual and for once, we don't have plans. Maybe a quiet night at home watching the State game with a fire and drinks. Or maybe we'll walk down to the bars in Downtown Plymouth...who knows?!
Stay safe and Happy New Year!
