Christmas 2023

Christmas was only 6 days ago and somehow it already feels so distant! I think that means we thoroughly enjoyed our week off from the school day routine. We didn't go anywhere or do anything out of the ordinary beyond continuing to get our new house in order and daily swim practices. I love that we don't have to GO and DO anything particularly special to have a wonderful, restorative, luxurious time on a school break.

Sunday, December 24th: Church was so good today! Extra musical numbers, and it was all Christmas music, simple yet beautifully done. And the closing hymn of Joy to the World with both the organ and the piano playing along was so amazing! The spirit from that is still sinking into my bones. I love how FULL the chapel gets on Christmas Sunday! So many voices to sing Christmas songs! I felt the spirit so constantly the whole hour. It was uplifting and joyful and happy. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ with music.

We about froze during our Christmas Sunday family picture after church! 

We had a bit of a family jam sesh this afternoon, with Jeff on the trumpet, me on my violin, and Rose on her cello or clarinet, in various groupings. It was fun and happy and I love Christmas music! Also, I really do enjoy playing the violin, even if I rarely play it except at Christmastime. Our new house was resonating with music!

I completely forgot to make cranberry muffins for dinner tonight! I even forgot to get cranberries at the store this week! This is the first Christmas Eve in my memory that I did not have cranberry muffins! Tragic! After our tamales and pear pecan pomegranate salad dinner, we read the Christmas story and the kids draped themselves in sheets to act it out a bit. Baby Jesus was a cell phone flashlight in a basket of clean laundry this year. After that, we sang 3 songs: Look A That Star, Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant, and Stars Were Gleaming. Then we had family prayer and the kids retreated to the basement to watch a Christmas movie. It was about 7pm. Jeff and I were done with stockings and wrapping the last 2 gifts by 7:30pm! So we watched an episode of our current show together and reveled in the coziness of Christmas Eve.

Monday, December 25th: Merry Christmas! Our day began with jingle bells a little after 7am this morning. We stretched the stockings and present opening out to allllmost 90 minutes. Since each kid got one big gift from the parents this year, there were only a few other gifts: each kid gave one gift to each sibling and each parent, and Jeff and I gave each other a gift. I loved the simplicity of it, even though it was more expensive overall this way, haha. There was more focus on the kids giving because they had less to receive. 

After we finished opening presents, we left the mess in the family room and we all ate and relaxed throughout the spacious house. I worked on setting up my new phone-- that was my big Christmas gift: a new Pixel 8 phone. My 18 month phone crisis has ended at last. This is the 4th phone that I've gotten since my old Pixel 4 died a year and a half ago. Finally, a keeper! Google finally made a phone that's not too huge!

This afternoon, Jeff and I went on a 30 minute run together. I love going on Christmas date runs! Even if Jeff is way faster than me and had to run ahead back and forth to get a workout in, haha.

We had Jeff's parents, Dan and Leslie, over for Christmas dinner tonight. I made cranberry muffins with craisins instead of fresh cranberries. They were very different than my childhood favorite, but not bad. Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Sunday picture in front of our new house!

One of our favorite former runners/current college students came home for Christmas: Kaylee! She was the first non-family member that Amber ever trusted and loved. Left--2017 at a cross country meet (Amber was 2.5 years old). Right: 2023 (today). Kaylee took off her shoes to see if Amber was taller than her yet, and Amber was only a quarter inch shy of passing her up!

Family jam sesh: in pajamas--double the jam!

Amber got carried away with photography.

Jay did not bring his bass home from school, so he sat and listened to our music. He attempted playing Rose's cello, holding the bow like a bass bow and playing the strings like they were bass strings. 

Pick Two word game with Rose.

Christmas Eve Nativity and reading of Luke 2.

Christmas tree kid picture. They're getting so big, I made them sit down so they didn't block the tree entirely.

Time for bed!

We scooted the couch out at a weird angle so it sort of faced the Christmas tree more. The kids built themselves a barricade out of cardboard bricks. They like busting through it on Christmas morning. I placed some cereal on the ledge for them to eat while they waited for go-time on Christmas morning.

Stockings!

Rose gave Jay some Kindle books, and wrapped a giant can of Jay's favorite Cajun seasoning so he had something to open on Christmas morning. Jay was excited to get the seasoning, and then he was even happier to find the note in the box telling him which e-books Rose gave him. Rose wrote it in rhyming verse.

Rose and Amber got beanbag chairs for their new bedrooms: Moon Pods. 

Rose gave Amber two Wings of Fire books: How to draw dragons and a dragon coloring book. Amber was so excited!

Hugs.

Christmas chaos!

Jay's big gift was a cube shelving unit for his bedroom. Jay assembled it 99% by himself, and Jeff told him that the sense of satisfaction from that project was the real Christmas gift, haha.

Testing out my new phone camera!

Christmas carnage! It was so hard to just leave the mess. I did kind of organize it a bit every time I walked through the room all day. I am a work in progress.

Jeff filled my stocking with Korean snacks. They were very interesting. I had to throw away the instant coffee and the green tea that came in the set, but some of the snacks were good. I also threw away the "People of Walmart" coloring book--it was a bit more graphic than I think Jeff intended. Still, a funny joke.

Christmas Date Run!

Mixing up a triple batch of cheesy potatoes: rivals cooking ground meat as the most unromantic uninspiring thing I do. While I stirred the cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and cheese together, I had to chant to myself "My life has meaning. My life has meaning. My life has meaning."

Christmas Dinner!

Grama Leslie made the kids fleece blankets for Christmas.

Jay gave Amber the rest of the Wings of Fire series books that she didn't have, and along with the coloring book and how to draw dragons book that Rose gave her, she was in dragon heaven! (That is an old foam mattress that we've been meaning to get rid of but the kids like to jump on so we haven't chucked it yet.)

The morning after Christmas, the Brown family group text was alight with NEWS: my youngest sister Mel had her baby girl at 7am on December 26th! They named her Dahlia.

Merry Christmas!