Happy Holidays!

Our Christmas was great this year, all considering the pandemic and Coronavirus concerns and restrictions.  We got a bit creative with Christmas Eve.  Normally we spend it with Scott's mom's side of the family at his mom's house in Troy.  But, they sold their Troy house and moved to Northville to be closer to us and Scott's sisters since we're all in Plymouth now.  With Mindy working at a hospital, we played it safe this year at did an outdoor Christmas Eve on the 23rd at Jackie's house since the weather was nicer that evening.  It was a soup potluck that was quite unique. 

We let the boys open their big joint gift from us before going to Jackie's since some of the family bought the boys games.  They were very surprised and excited!

We did not see the Riashi's or Wierenga's like we typically do and kept it just to Scott's parents and sisters with their families.  We went over around 4pm and brought chicken tortilla soup with some tortilla strips and shredded cheese to put on it.  The kids had mac and cheese that Jackie made in the instant pot.  We enjoyed some Christmas cookies and treats, hot chocolate, and cocktails by the fire with Christmas movies on the TV.  We exchanged gifts and then it was time to head home since some rain was on it's way.

On the real Christmas Eve I made a breakfast casserole to start the day and we had a relatively lazy morning at home, which was nice.  We had plans to go to the Henry Ford to see the Marvel exhibit that afternoon.  So, we dropped Luna off at Scott's parents' house in Northville so they could keep an eye on her and we headed over to the museum.  It was really fun!

We came home and I wanted to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner all by myself for the first time.  I opted to do just a turkey breast since we didn't need an entire bird.  Everything turned out great!  In fact, Scott's dad came by to take a plate home for dinner.  We capped off our Christmas Eve by drinking hot chocolate bombs, Christmas cookies, and watching Home Alone together.  We even had time to read The Polar Express and The Night Before Christmas with the boys.  It was actually kind of nice how we spent our Christmas Eve this year.  

Christmas morning came fast and the boys were up and anxious to see what Santa brought.  It was fun watching them open their gifts, as usual.  Sean got an RC Car from Santa and Evan got the Millenium Falcon Lego set.  I'd say they made out like a bandit!

Everyone was stoked we woke up to a White Christmas! After making cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and bacon for breakfast, we watched mass on TV in our pajamas.  My parents came over around 2pm and we enjoyed some appetizers for a bit before using Zoom to open gifts with my brother and sister-in-law in Portland.  

We decided to make a pasta bar for dinner this year with a couple of different noodles, different sauces, and some meatballs.  It was delicious!  We had Christmas cookies for dessert with coffee and cocktails and enjoyed playing with some of the new toys the kids got.  Before we knew it, it was pretty late so my parents left to head home and the boys went up to use one of their new bath bombs.  

Happy Holidays!  I hope you all enjoyed yours as much as we did this year!