so, knowing that we have big plans for new years coming up, and my birthday the weekend after, and some spending money to blow, i'm going to get over myself and move on.
a little about our christmas...
we have a rather hectic tradition, but so far, i love it. friday night, i couldn't sleep, so i was up late scrapbooking until i felt my eyelids grow heavy. saturday morning, we were up early for breakfast with his family. his dad had to work, but we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, a vivacious round of one of our favorite games - Mexican Dominoes, and of course, gifts.
{mexican train dominoes with matt's mom & sister - one of our favorite games}
nikki made us a set of gorgeous stamped linen napkins. matt's mom bought him a laser level and studfinder (and the joke of it beeping wildly when i point the studfinder in his direction just never gets old...) and me a customized Stampin' Up! copyright stamp, with my name on it. we got david a few fun books - drawing and counting, and a cute little outfit for kassidy. we gave nikki a beautiful porcelain church of the "victorian christmas house" variety, to help replace a collection she recently lost.
{as usual, the kid gets more out of the box than the toy (in his defense, the toy had to charge). but i think he makes the best christmas present of all, don't you?}
on the way home, we stopped at the superstore JoAnns to check out their Christmas houses. his mom gave me the funding to buy a few to start my own collection, as an early birthday present, and matt fronted me the money to buy another house. their Christmas stuff was already 70% off, so i got 5 $25/ea. houses for about $40. we headed home to pack up and rest, and then headed to church for the annual candle-lighting service. the message was poignant (another day, another post, maybe.) and, i felt, a little overly dramatic, but as usual, the music was fantastic, and we end the service every year by singing Silent Night as we light our candles. my favorite part.
another part of our christmas tradition is the mad dash from church at the end of the service to the ferry boat. we almost always *just* make it onto a ferry that's leaving, and we love that it works out that way. our drive across the peninsula was filled with great conversation about some different religions we've been learning about. i love how my husband can get into the stuff that i find so interesting, and really give me a good run for my money in conversation.
we arrived at the farm to find my parents and grandparents nearly waiting for us. set the table, enjoyed our traditional cold smoked turkey, homemade cranberry relish, and all the usual trappings. i love our christmas eve dinner. after dinner, we clean up and gravitate towards the christmas tree. and inevitably, grampa always says (teasingly) "well, i'm beat. maybe we should wait until morning to open presents." this year, he shouts, from the table as mom & grama are cleaning up in the kitchen "preeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeents." and i looked at him and said "you sure you don't want to wait until morning? it's past your bedtime." he just giggled.
opening gifts was fun. full of surprises. mom & bob revealed to me the plans for this weekend, in two parts: a cd labeled "play me first" and an envelope labeled "open me second". they're sending us to Portland to see Mama Mia!, which i missed when it came to seattle {the cd gave that way, featuring ABBA's very own "Mama Mia"). mom knew how much i wanted to see it, so they got us FANTASTIC tickets at the Keller Auditorium, and are sending us out to dinner, and putting us up for the night at the Oxford Suites hotel!! we're so excited!!
matt bought me some scrapbooking stuff - he's so good. a new set of MM foam stamps and a new set of MM magnetic stamps, plus a new Colorbok Perfect album. he received three gorgeous golf clubs from my parents, which thrilled him to no end, and some books, cds and a game from me. my grandparents bought us two tickets to the 5th Avenue theatre, and are letting us choose the show. we're struggling to choose between The Wedding Singer and Pippin' (or at least i'm struggling).
late to bed saturday night, of course, and we were up early sunday morning, thanks to a power outage that turned the CD player on, super loud, when the power came back on. stockings were opened - more scrapbooking stuff for me (again, he's SO good!) and miscellaneous goodies and golf accessories for matt. mom & bob have apparently started a new tradition. i thought stockings would end when we got married, and they pretty much did, but this year, there was a big "santa bag" under the tree for us. lots of odds and ends, snacks, car washing accessories, some super-expensive soaps i love, etc. a great way to make the fun of opening gifts last a little longer...
we enjoyed a nice long breakfast with my grandparents - a fritatta, which was absolutely delicious, and then packed up to head out to my dad's. things were leisurely there - we're all struggling a bit to "feel" christmas. the 5 of us opened presents - a few scrapbooking books i've wanted, plus a new paper cutter and a hand drill for me, a few video games, books and a movie for matt, and a beautiful wreath from my step-sister for us both. and the secret project i've been working on for the last few weeks was a hit: an album for my dad, filled with photos of my grandfather over the years. dad looked through it twice as he opened it, and twice more on monday morning. he said he couldn't look at the last few pages, as he grew misty-eyed by then. my goal, in that gift, was to give him something he could share with my grandfather, talking through the memories, that could become something he could cherish after my grandfather passes away. apparently, i succeeded.
{dad, opening his album.}
after presents, we drove out to my grandmother's house for dinner. nice, low-key, relaxing. we got to watch my cousin, tim open his presents - mostly Jeff Gordon stuff, with whom he is fascinated (because they share the same last name.)
the rest of the evening, and most of monday was spent at my dad's house, hanging around. i like it this way. we packed up and headed out, to be on a 3pm boat home. it was nice to be home. as much as i love the season, and didn't want it to end, today i feel ready for it. i'm ready for the new year. ready to clean and organize and put away all of our christmas decorations.
my favorite picture from the whole weekend is nothing special, it just touches my heart. matt, on the floor with our neice kassidy, who's scooting, near crawling:
{i think she likes him.}
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