Yay! It's Christmas! There's always so much build-up to this big day, and I love seeing everything come together. Being organized and doing as much as I can definitely helps with that :) That way when unexpected things come up or changes in our lives that make it hard to do things the way we usually do I can roll with the punches.
We'll be spending Christmas morning at home with just the four of us initially and then my parents will be joining us for brunch. Then we head to my in-laws for the rest of the day to celebrate with them. We also join my extended family for dinner on Boxing Day. So since I won't have much time to fit blogging in, I wanted to take the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and I thought I'd give you a peek at how we've already been celebrating Christmas!
Last weekend we had a get together with my brothers and our families, since we'll be going in different directions on Christmas Day. We watched one nephew's hockey game, then joined another nephew's family skating Christmas party from his hockey team, and then headed to Swiss Chalet for festive specials together (Canadian rotisserie chicken restaurant). Here are a few pictures of celebrations.
It's the first time we've done this, and it was a lot of fun! And it might be the first time my hubby and my kids and I have all been on the ice together... we'll have to change that since everyone enjoyed themselves :)
Christmas Eve daytime preparations involved baking... Christmas Rice Krispy Squares and brownies decorated with Christmas sprinkles. Later we went to one of the afternoon Christmas Eve services at our church, where the kids decorated ice cream cone Christmas trees.
Dinner was simple takeout... it's become a Christmas Eve tradition :) And we decided to enjoy the quiet of the evening as a family, opening our gifts to each other.
My son gave my daughter a Del Sol keychain that he bought her back in May on our cruise, and an Animal Jam membership card.
My daughter gave my son a magnet that she bought on our cruise too, and she made him a scarf to match his coat. I love the excited look on her face as he's opening it :)
One of my son's favourite gifts... a gift certificate for winter baseball training!
And one of my daughter's favourite gifts... a pink fuzzy animal print blanket to match her new room decor!
And a few pics by our tree.
Of course the evening always ends with putting out treats for Santa!
Well, for my hubby and I the evening ends with Christmas morning prep... including brunch prep, stuffing stockings, setting out gifts, and "helping" Santa with his treats :)
And finishing it off with a little hot chocolate with mint Kahlua in Christmas mugs! Mmm...
I'm looking forward to continuing to celebrate Christmas with our families over the next few days!
I'm so grateful for each and every one of you and the fact that you take time out of your life to read my blog and interact with me on social media!
Merry Christmas from my family to yours!
