With Christmas (and moving) in the rear view mirror we’ve got a brand new year to look forward to!
The house is mostly in order with just a few items left on our to-do list. We’ve got a couple frames left that need hanging and we’re still waiting for a couple deliveries including the new washer and dryer and some missing pieces of furniture. All in all the place feels like home and we’ve already been able to host some friends and family for parties.
We celebrated Christmas with Jeff’s Mom and siblings last weekend and the dining room table was full - which is exactly what we pictured when we set up that room two weeks ago. That same weekend we had our Rosewood neighbors over to check out the new place and the kids made great use of the basement family room and playroom. Again, exactly what we pictured! It was a wonderful preview of all the future gatherings here on Pontiac in 2020… and beyond!
Natalie had a rough couple weeks leading into Christmas: she broke her arm during recess at school (she fell off a scooter) and she also slammed her middle finger (on the opposite hand as her broken arm) in the car door - her nail fell off Christmas morning and there were tears. But, she’s a tough cookie and has been a trooper through all the holiday madness - two days later she was already swinging a bat at a piñata at her friends birthday party.
And despite her streak of bad luck she powered through at her Preschool Advent Christmas Program starring as Mary. She didn’t let her cast affect her performance and even did all the arm motions. You had to look no further than the front pew to find Jeff and I beaming with pride. She’ll get her cast off at the end of January and in the meantime we’re grateful for water proof casting which allows her to take baths/showers per usual.
We are in love with our Christmas tree this year, especially at night time when it reflects on the front bay window panes in the living room. We’re the kind of people who leave our tree up until after the first of the year and it’s a good thing too because we’ve had it for less than two weeks because of moving. I love the tradition of tree hunting with our family and am giddy over getting to continue making those memories here in our new house. This year, because of our delay in tree hunting, we actually ended up having to go to two different tree farms to find one tall enough. The first place was fresh out of tall trees! I didn’t know that was possible. So we find this beauty out at Bosch’s Tree Farm in Allendale.
Last week I also caught up with my golf ladies at our Watermark Womens Association Holiday Event. There’s always great food, festive cocktails and a gift exchange which is fun. We’ve got a lot of women in our league who head to warmer weather in the winter months so it’s nice to catch them one last time before they’re off for the rest of the season.
We snuck in a visit with Santa during our annual December visit to Fredrick Meijer Gardens last week. Natalie asked for slippers which she received and already wrote a thank you note for to Santa and Thomas asked for snacks and water. He got goldfish, animal crackers and peanut butter cookies. He was happy as a clam. I know it’s not always going to be this easy so I really embraced our youngest asking for items that he gets on the regular. Easiest Christmas ever this year.
We’ve had a wonderful week celebrating Christmas with family and friends. We’ve got just one more party this coming weekend with my Mom’s extended family after church this Sunday in Grand Haven. It’s the one time of year we see my cousins and it’s always fun to catch up on life and see how much their kids have grown.
This week we kicked off Christmas Eve with our Rosewood neighbors for brunch and mimosas over at the Bordoli’s house. Stefano made waffles and Kari outdid herself with activities for the kids. I was having such fun hanging out with neighbors that I totally forgot to take any photos.
Then we headed to my Grandparents house for a visit in Vicksburg before continuing onto my parents house for the remainder of the evening for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. My parents house is nothing short of magical during the holidays - they live in a log cabin out in the country which has a wood burning fire place and a giant tree that is so tall this year that no one can reach the top to place the star. We were sure to tell Santa we’d be overnight at Grandma and Grandpas house so that the kids could get their gifts there. Natalie was most impressed.
Christmas morning was a blur of Bloody Marys and opening gifts. My parents got the kids a giant ‘Big Joe’ bean bag this year for the family room in the basement that Jeff insisted we could fit it in the car. He was right but it made for a hilarious car ride home. My brother and sister-in-law outdid themselves with homemade gifts this year and now we’ve got a pantry with homemade salsa, butter spreads and beer bread. I love love love the idea of consumable gifts and it’s even better that all the items came from their garden. Impressive!
Around noon we headed to Jeff’s parents in Rockford and kicked things off with champagne and cocktail wienies - Jeff’s favorite, not kidding. We opened stockings which always include an orange and a book of Life Savers. We played Christmas Movie Trivia (I tied for 1st with my sister-in-law) and we opened gifts. The kids got tennis rackets which Thomas was thrilled about and the weather was so nice that the kids went outside and played for a while. We ate way too many Christmas cookies, played board games and watched Hallmark movies. It was wonderful.
New Years is right around the corner and we’re ready to wrap up 2019 and ring in 2020. Wishing you and yours the best and most fun year yet!