christmas ’19

we did our usual…christmas eve at my parent’s house with my side of the family and christmas day at our house with hc’s side of the family.

for christmas eve, my sister kim, usually plans the main entree and we bring additional dishes. we all partake in the food and decor. we have always had christmas eve at my parent’s house our whole lives, so although we all don’t live at home, it’s only natural for us to host it there every year!

this year started very late for us as mass at st. mary’s was pushed back another hour, causing us to be a bit behind. our day flew by as we were trying to prepare for christmas day, eve, get ourselves ready, do odds and ends around the house prepping for our guests for christmas day.

i was hoping we could prep the salad i wanted to bring over before we headed to mass but we completely ran out of time. we hustled our way to church, attended a very beautiful christmas eve mass and came home to to put together the not so quick salad. ughhhhhhhh. we finally arrived at my parent’s house after 7! i believe that is the latest we have ever come over on christmas eve!!!

reagardless, the holiday spirit was in full swing. the house smelled yummy, the candles were lit, christmas music was blasting, glasses of wine were plentiful as we laughed, talked, cooked, and the kids played.

everyone was joyous and the mood was bright. as we sat down for dinner, olive helped my dad say the dinner’s prayer, and we all then tried pulling our christmas cracker with our neighbor. the trick was to make a wish and the person holding the longest end, their wish would come true!!! we all held crackers with each other and pulled and pulled. we were laughing so hard as some of us could not get our cracker to pop! LOL we were practically crying and then some of us didn’t even get the long end of the stick and we couldn’t stop laughing!

dinner was delicious and the kids could not wait to open up their gifts! per usual, we cleaned up, set up desserts and the kids started to open up their gifts. one by one, group by group, we opened up all our gifts. it was getting so darn late and ellie was becoming deliriously tired. she was not in a bad mood, grouchy, or anything of that sort but she was out of it!

i held her in my arms, like she was a little baby, and literally rocked her to sleep. her eyes rolled back and forth and i swung her and within a few minutes she was o u t. oh she was so tired. it was so cute and darling that i rocked her to sleep…i don’t think i have done that since she was a newborn!

there were so many gifts and the girls had so much fun. christmas eve was definitely a wonderful, enchanted success!

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C H R I S T M A S E V E

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christmas day started out slow and, per usual, before i knew it…the deadline was approaching and i was not ready! i still needed to finish the table settings, i didn’t get everyone’s names out on place cards, i hadn’t set the flatware, i didn’t start the charcuterie board…shoot! shoot! shoot! i always wonder, where did the time go?!! LOL there was still soooooooo much to do!!!

but in the end..it all falls into place. the guests arrived early, per hc’ s whole side of the family and the festivities began with a bang. aunt wendy put together the drinks, his cousins and aunts brought sides and different entrees and hc was putting the finishing touches on the prime rib and ham.

everyone was in good spirits and the food prep was humming along perfectly. after an hour or so of warming everything up, it was time to eat. hc had everyone gathered around before food was served and proceeded to give a little speech. this was our first christmas without his dad and it was a tough one. hc tried to continue on with his speech but i picked up, in tears, thanking everyone for coming and that it was our first christmas without papa and we felt blessed that everyone was here to celebrate together.

that was pretty much all i could spit out. there were tears shed and lots of hugs given. what a heavy but heartfelt day. we miss him so, so much and it’s not the same at all. such a big void in the day that will never be the same but we continue to share all the wonderful memories of him and that warms our hearts and keeps us going.

overall, it was a very beautiful and wonderful christmas day with our family. the food was delicious, the decor was festive, and the energy was palpable.

we deeply miss you papa.

C H R I S T M A S D A Y