We truly had a merry little Christmas in 2019. Our still broken hearts were lifted by neighbors, friends, and family. A little before Christmas, our friends Jen and Patrick hosted a Christmas dinner and party. As part of the festivities, they put together a living nativity with the kids.
It was a wonderful evening.
On Christmas Eve, I made Grandma's pastry,
and we headed down to Mapleton for festivities.
The kids were really excited to open presents at Nana & Papa's house.
Nana and Papa really spoiled us all this time!
And they were nice enough to take our Christmas jammies picture.
I guess I should say pictures.
We headed home for the evening
and visions of sugar plums danced in their heads---or whatever the modern equivalent is.
In the middle of the night, Santa came and it was magical!
Christmas morning came early, but we wouldn't have it any other way!
We usually give our kids a book present, and this year, Brian and I put together a photo album of each kid with Grandpa so they can have a book of their own to remember him. There were many tears shed putting the books together, but through it all, I couldn't help but be grateful for all the memories we had with him.
We hosted the Saville crew for dinner--Lea & Shayne, Nana & Papa, and Ben & Jenny! I loved getting the table set and ready for everyone's arrival.
We had prime rib and ham, and it was quite the feast. We enjoyed it so much that I never took a picture of us eating.
After dinner, we played games. Some really funny games that Jenny brought.
The fun didn't stop there. While Ben and Jenny were in town, we all went to a movie together...which wiped Skyler out.
We had another Christmas Party at Nana and Papas a day or two later. Ben and Jenny bought tons of presents for us to all do a white elephant exchange. Everyone loved this...well nearly. White elephant games fill me with anxiety, but even with that, I did enjoy the game.
We scored some delightfully horrifically obnoxious Christmas clearance things, like these singing stuffed creatures, and this amazing outfit for Gracie. I know it sounds sarcastic, but we really did have some good laughs with Ben and Jenny's finds for this game.
Thank you, everyone, for such a merry Christmas.
