Christmas Day

SEVEN THIRTY?! What?!! :) That's right. The sun was up, but we were not. Until a vocal buzz started coming from the kids' rooms across the hall. When they asked what time they could get up, we'd told them, "Not until the Christmas lights are on INSIDE the house." So they were peeking down the hall waiting for that to happen :) When it finally did, they came pouring out of their rooms to celebrate!

Here's our usual order of operations . . .

1. Buck starts coffee and puts breakfast in the oven
2. Kids open stockings and then Buck and I open stockings
3. If breakfast isn't ready yet (it wasn't) kids exchange gifts they got each other
4. Kids give gifts to mom and dad
5. Surely breakfast is done by now :)









6. Kids return to the tree and collect packages by paper that has been wrapped according to who gave it i.e. striped paper Grandma J, golden paper Grandpa A, tiny packages all the same, Aunt S. Then, they open the coordinated gifts all together from the same relative. It's like conducting a play! You would not believe how excited they all were to receive a new shower head for Christmas :) Good call on the grandpa gift, from Buck! The Broncos chairs on deep mark down were another good call for a grandpa gift. Buck did some good gift scouting this year!









The kids were pretty well set for clothing this year, so that put a wrench in our annual clothes shopping online expedition with Grandma J. So, we came up with a plan. The kids would screenshot a handful of items they would like and send them as suggestions to CA, so there would be something under the tree from Grandma J on Christmas morning. As you can see, Brennen FINALLY got the suit coat he's been wanting (he said it was the top thing on his list--looks great with the pj pants :) Caelan requested make-up, Gabby a bunch of cute tops, and Graysen Green Bay gear--like a bow tie :) 

The remainder of our gift, as a family, is tickets to see STOMP! when it tours the area early next year. I saw STOMP! in college and thought it was so much fun :) Grandma J thought it would be fun to send us all to experience it together. To present this unusual gift, I put a few letters into each of four envelopes on the tree. The kids each chose an envelope, opened it, and then had to put the letters on the enclosed papers in order to spell STOMP! At that point, I had a video cued up on my phone so they could see what on earth their secret message means :) Now they can hardly wait for next year to roll around so they can experience all that rhythm in person!





The kids and I pooled our Christmas funds to get Buck a buck for Christmas :) He's been wanting a practice target for more than a year. Hopefully this new "friend" will help him hone his skills.









Brennen collected some small engine repair tools and a guide book, Caelan opened storage cubes for the girls' room and a music folder for all her Sunday morning sheet music, G$ needed a Green Bay packers wardrobe update, and Gabby restocked her art supplies and received a carrying case for her cajon.

Here's the fashion show for Grandma J . . . a little shorter of a show this year, but that's okay. It's nice to know they've got all the clothing they need!




Christmas dinner was amazing! Buck grilled steaks, Caelan made sweet potato casserole, and the goodness just kept piling up on our plates :)







When the boys ran out of XBOX playing time with the new Madden game from their sisters, we let them open the final gift of the day . . . an Escape Room puzzle! We thought it would maybe take an hour to solve (it took three). First you read the story of the room, the problem you're trying to solve. Next you build the puzzle (not easy, even with under 800 pieces). Next, you solve the clues hidden in the puzzle, which lead you to answers hidden in the border of the puzzle. Eventually, these border pieces re-connect into a "key" that helps you prevent worldwide catastrophe (as least in the puzzle we chose). It was a lot of fun, and a great way to wrap up a relaxing, calm Christmas day together :)

The Eve of Christmas

It's amazing how the details of days fly out of my head even when those days were not that many days ago! We were super amazed that Buck not only got three days off at Thanksgiving, but also three at Christmas! And even crazier, he has three in a row for New Year's, too. It's been a good thing to have that extended time together during this season. I'm thankful God put this set up on the scheduler's heart (whether the scheduler realized it or not :).

So I think, leading up to church on Christmas Eve, we . . . well, Buck took a couple kids to the store to get some last minute gifts, oh and some synthetic dye for a dress project Caelan is working on. I guess I worked on frantically reading the four thick books I intended to place in stockings later that night. Every year. Lol! I just love books, I can't help it :)

We attended church in the early afternoon at a new location that could hold more people. I'm always amazed that schools allow churches to meet in their spaces (for a rental fee of course). But think how prayer and all the things of God are regularly pushed out of school, but churches get to fill them back up with praise and thanksgiving and joy. I just wonder if that leaves the school dancing a little in its bricks and if the kids catch some of that hope when they get back to class? I don't know, fun to think about :)

It was a hard service for me though. I thought the music was great, the message was super great--full of really practical tidbits and thoughts on celebrating Jesus and His arrival on the planet. But the second round of carols knocked me over. We started singing about the angels rejoicing and heaven filled with wonder and praise and I just thought, "My dad is there, seeing that first hand. He knows what that sounds like. He's not here. He's there. That's happening, and he is part of it." I couldn't stop the tears. Usually, I can hold them back, but not at church. Of course, the first person to ask me if I was okay was our kindly, older youth pastor, the same one who comforted me during VBS when all the bad news was rolling in about dad's situation this summer. He just always happens to be there when I'm trying to keep it together. He's like a dad, and I'm emotionally helpless when he shows a little compassion. I'm sure God worked it out that way on purpose. Anyway, a hug from him really got the tears rolling, and then I just needed a good hour to cry and talk to God, and process the first Christmas where my dad is with Christ.

Food helps :) We planned a big Mexican food dinner for Christmas Eve, and the sounds and smells of that being prepared helped get me out of my funk. Buck even made green chili, yum! I forgot to put rice on my plate for the close up, but you can picture it there where the fork is resting.


After dinner, we watched a couple of Christmas movies . . . Klaus and Arthur Christmas. Then Buck and Caelan took a run at the sopapilla dough she'd made that morning, Buck's family recipe. Yummy! Even though we were all still so full from dinner :) 

We told the kids they needed to be in bed at 11, so the "elves" could get some work done. The complied, nicely! Buck and I wrapped last minute gifts, I wrote notes on the books I didn't get finished reading, we filled the stockings and carried up and arranged gifts around the tree from everyone who sent them, and the gifts from us. Then Buck (thank goodness!) remembered we were going to set out pastries to rise overnight. 

It took until 12:30 in the morning to get everything set! So much for just last minute details :) But the house was sparkling with Christmas excitement, and we'd made it through the tough stuff and could rest well. What time would we all wake up the next morning? My bets were on Buck at 5:30 a.m.--his usual Christmas enthusiasm starting a pot of coffee before the sunrise.

Seventeen

Caelan's birthday began with over-risen cinnamon rolls the size of her head :) They are (cleverly) decorated with frosting 17s, just in case anyone forgot which birthday it was we were celebrating. Buck's Christmas flower bouquet added a nice pop of pretty to our birthday breakfast table, since Caelan was not demanding about birthday decorations being put up the night before. Buck and I did hang one of the birthday banners across the kitchen doorway, as per tradition. Otherwise, we kept it pretty simple this year. Oh, and her breakfast table gift was from Gabby--a stylish pair of slimline driving gloves with tech-ready fingertips. This is a good idea since neither car they drive (the Nitro and Buck's car) has working heat. She said Caelan is always warming up her hands at stop signs and lights. Good thing this has been a warm winter and not much frosting over of windshields has occurred :)



After breakfast, we packed up the van, puppy included, and headed to the theater. We were excited to discover our NGFs also purchased tickets to see the final Star Wars. And isn't it funny that our two families exactly fill up an entire row? :)







Newton thought this movie was way better than Frozen. As far as I know, he didn't even bark at anyone--unicorn or otherwise. Granted he was as far as possible away from me, and the theater was incredibly loud (why do they crank the volume, so?!). 

After the movie, Caelan invited our NGFs to her birthday restaurant of choice, and we tried out the pub's brand new woodfire pizza offerings. These pics make it look like we're in some abandoned basement, but it really is a cute place on the historic block :) Also, it was Newton's first experience in a real restaurant. He's just having lots of firsts this week!





We parents grabbed some chai and coffee (even though the shop closed seven minutes before we walked in--the poor lady looked freaked out when she saw 15 people and a dog proceed through the doors) from next door, and then Caelan invited our NGFs over to enjoy cake and gift opening! It was nice of Mr. NGF to take the whole day off to spend with us, lol :)

It was quite the largest audience ever for gift opening . . . I felt like we should have gotten Caelan more gifts to make the show last a little longer, lol :) Also, yes, at least the third, if not fourth Costco chocolate birthday cake in a row, but this one was delightfully personalized with crumbled Costco peppermint bark (which was a brilliant idea on the birthday girl's part)!

Funny t-shirts were definitely the theme of the day, with a couple of new piano books thrown in :) Caelan could play piano ALLLLL day long if there was nothing else to accomplish. But of course there was, it was birthday day! 

Buck put together a lovely-smelling crockpot of chili (which I think we ended up eating around 7 or 8 p.m. :) Our destination was the same location the kids sang for the national anthem this summer, only the parking lot. Drive through Christmas lights coordinated to music is my jam! I mean, Caelan's jam ;) She didn't really have a birthday plan, so Buck and I made one up. Overall, I think it went nicely (and Newton loved the lights too :)

I think Chauncey declared a peace treaty with the fluffy one in honor of Caelan's birthday. Here the pups are looking like BFFs ;)



I hope Caelan had as much fun celebrating her 17th birthday as the rest of us did :) We should do this birthday thing more often! Wait, no, scratch that. Seventeen seems really like a big number to me, an old teenage age. Eeek! What is going on? Hold the phone! Okay, deep breaths me. Happy birthday to my almost Christmas baby 💗