in reflection during the last few days, i believe i can say that our efforts to simplify christmas {in order to avoid the post-holiday letdown} seem to have worked. as we fell asleep christmas night, matt said "so what did you think?" and i think i can say honestly, it was perfectly satisfying.
we had dinner, games and opened presents at mom's christmas eve. it was just the five of us {including bob's mom}, and felt very simple. we took our time with gifts - one present at a time, so we could each watch and appreciate what the others opened. made it home, and in bed, around 11pm.
christmas morning, i was up just a bit before matt, and made us a nice breakfast. we read from Luke by candlelight to enjoy the christmas "story" together, while the snow fell from the sky in the most blizzard-like display i've ever seen. after opening our stockings, we decided that if we wanted to get out of seattle, we'd best go now, so we loaded up and headed for the boat.
at dad's, our side of the family shared a relaxing dinner. new for us this year was dinner around the dining room table {with the TV off}, as their new house finally has room for everyone. i loved the conversation, the relaxing atmosphere. no hurry, no stress. we opened presents - again, taking time to enjoy eachother's gifts. we even had time to squeeze in some family photos {you could really tell dad was humoring us though}...
so if i had to determine the recipe for success, i would say it's a combination of several things:
~lessening my focus on gifts during the season.
~lessening my focus on my own wishlist.
~displaying fewer decorations.
~really thinking about each gift we give: would this suit the person i'm giving it to? will they use it?
~paring down my own belongings during the season - giving well to goodwill.
~giving to others.
~slowing down to enjoy the celebrations of the actual holidays - instead of making the season one {very} long celebration.
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