The holiday season is all about tradition, creating new memories, and enjoying special moments with loved ones. For us, traditions included carrying on the magic of Santa with our two kids, making gingerbread houses (from a kit, of course), enjoying the holiday trees and trains exhibit at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, and gathering with our family and friends - my favorite part. Here’s a rundown of our 2024 holiday fun!
We kicked off the holidays with a bang’n Thanksgiving weekend, gathering with both sides of our family for back to back turkey dinners. We’re blessed by amazing parents who are great chefs which means we don’t have to host or do any of the cooking. We end capped the weekend with our Calvin Christian friend group for the annual FriendsGiving celebration.
The following weekend Jeff and I hit the road to Chicago for the West Michigan YPO Holiday Party. We had a wonderful time meeting new friends and reconnecting with some old ones. The highlights included laughing until our cheeks hurt at the Second City comedy club, a relaxing massage at the hotel spa, dancing the night away to The Verve Pipe with friends, and this incredible party favor (below) where an artist sketched us in our holiday best!
Meanwhile, back in Michigan the kids got to spend the weekend with their grandparents at the lake baking cookies and eating cheeseburgers - they might have had more fun than we did. Both Natalie and Thomas started basketball this winter and Jeff’s parents were troopers by bringing them to their practice clinics.
In addition to basketball, Natalie continues piano lessons through the Piano Cottage and is loving it. This month she also performed in the Iroquois Christmas Program alongside her fellow elementary upper classman (3rd and 4th graders). Then, at Christmas Chapel just before break, she filled the role of one of the three wisemen. Cute!
This year I was grateful to join both kids class Christmas parties at school and loved watching each of them amongst their classmates. The kids are thriving at GRCS and we couldn’t be happier with our school community. We’re witnessing our kids making lifelong friendships, and at the same time, so are Jeff and I.
Thomas will get his turn to perform this Spring when the 1st and 2nd graders put on their own music program through school. In the meantime, he’s enjoying basketball and cannot wait to get out on the slopes this winter - we need to pray for snow here in Michigan right now! His class visited the GR Public Museum earlier this month for a tour of ‘old timey downtown’ and his favorite part was, “Getting out of school for a few hours.”
This years display at Fredrick Meijer Gardens elevated to the next level with their installation of Enlightened. The seasonal exhibit is a one mile long pathway through the outdoor gardens with mesmerizing displays of lights, music, and motion. It was a fun change of pace from the usual trees and trains that we return to each year. It’s up and available until Jan. 4th.
Jeff and I had a fun time hosting the Mercantile Bank Marketing Team and their spouses at our home for our Christmas party this year. Thanks to the incredible work of our Project Manager, Sarah, we enjoyed a smorgasbord of cheese and meats, competed in a hilarious gingerbread decorating challenge - congrats to the champions Sean and his wife Lexi - and exchanged coffee mugs with and added bonus of little known fun facts about ourselves. It was very entertaining. We learned that one of us has been kissed by Elton John, another lived on a boat for 3 months, and one even worked in a haunted hotel in the first part of their career. Who knew?!
Some of Ottawa Hills finest and funnest ladies gathered for a lovely Christmas dinner party. Our neighbor Emily treated us to a beautiful sit down dinner followed by a rowdy game exchanging gifts of our favorite things. It’s always a riot watching items get stolen from one another knowing everyone’s going home with something great regardless.
We had a fun morning at the Van Eerden Family Christmas party where the kids jumped off every amount of sugar they consumed in cookies within the two hours of the party. It’s always a great way to start the weekend leading into Christmas and the perfect time to casually catch up with friends we don’t see that often.
The Smith Family Christmas celebration is always one we look forward to. My Dad prepares his specialty: slow roasted prime rib that’s blacked on the grill right before dinner time. My Mom always puts so much love into the gifts that go under the tree and the kids love spending time with their cousins who are now both old enough to understand the fun that Christmas brings!
The Kladder Family Christmas is also a highlight of our celebration series. My mother-in-law Marilynne is the hostess with the mostess who leaves no detail unnoticed. I’m grateful for her love of hospitality. It’s a gift that she selflessly shares with our entire family and without it… we’d all be eating frozen pizza for Christmas dinner.
Twenty-twenty-four was one for the record books. It was a year of travel, hard work, fun events, and growth. And as we plan for our year ahead we are motivated and hopeful for even more good things to come. We wish you and yours the happiest New Year! Cheers to 2025!
