Memory-Making Moments: A Christmas Recap

 

If I don't show you any other pictures from our Christmas this year, 

I must show you this one ⬇️

Ron and I,
our four children and three children-in-law,
our fifteen grandchildren, 

my mom, and my sister

. . . all in one place at one time!

It was the first time that we had all been together at Christmas since 2021. 

What a gift!

And there were a host of memory-making moments!

Some were recorded and some escaped the camera,
some are special and some are ordinary,

but all are treasured and stored in my heart.

Unhurried time together.
Hugs. Little footsteps. Guests.
Coffee. Lots of meals. Lots of leftovers in the fridge. 
Unplanned dress-alikes.
Christmas movies. Christmas jammies.

Music of all kinds . . .
Christmas carols,

impromptu karaoke that went on for hours
(Peter singing "It's a Wonderful World" as Louis Armstrong had us all in stitches!)
violin, piano, guitar, singing.
I was thankful that my voice recovered enough that I could sing in our church's Christmas cantata.

Little grands decorating cookies. My mom made her sugar cookie dough, I cut most of them out (until the littles came in and cut out a few), and the littles decorated them. With LOTS of decorating sugar. Spoonfuls, in fact. They were true sugar cookies!

Little cousins doing crafts, playing Duplo, "playing" the piano, and eating breakfast together in the kitchen.

FAMILY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION!
Joy. Togetherness.
Hors d'oeuvres buffet.
Gifts for all. Piles of wrapping paper. Ribbon "necklaces."
Ryan's prize of a $50 Amazon gift card to the person who most closely guessed the number of Jolly Joes in the jar. (Gavin won!)
Family photo.
Gammy's trifle, Bekah's fudge, and lots of cookies.

Christmas Eve candlelight service.

CHRISTMAS DAY. 
A very special rendition of "Joy to the World."
Christmas breakfast. Orange rolls.
Aunt Bekah opening her gifts.
Caleb and Ellie enjoying Aunt Bekah's new rug. 
Visiting a friend who is in rehab.
More feasting.

Visiting Gammy. Goodies.

Good-byes . . . one group at a time . . .
until our gathering of 26 people was back to the 3 of us . . .
and then Bekah went to a conference for five days
and Ron and I were alone in the house. 

Photo by my friend Carla

Photos by Kati

s

We had eight days full of memory-making moments!

And then there was one more celebratory day when Ron's siblings and their spouses joined us for a post-Christmas gathering.

Photo by my sister-in-law Pat

Now Christmas season 2024 has past . . . but the memories linger . . . 

Merry Christmas!

I have been missing in action . . . and "action" is certainly the correct description!

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was so short this year. My days have been full of ordinary busyness, holiday prep, a few special events, and a week of sickness just to make life interesting. (And my sickness has included an extended period of laryngitis so I haven't even been able to sing Christmas music!)

In the meantime, there has been no time for blogging, no time for commenting (even though I pop in to read blogs now and then). 

Will I ever go back and Gather the Moments of November? 

Will I ever finish telling you about our house projects of 2023? 

Will this be the first time in my sixteen years of blogging that I will not do a Christmas home tour?! 

Perhaps. 😑

Oh, but we are excited about the days to come! We have children arriving on Friday (tomorrow!) and more on Saturday and our home and our hearts will be filled with joy and celebration! 

So before I disappear again, I wanted to pop in to wish you, my dear friends, a blessed Christmas! 

May you know the reality of Emmanuel:

God With Us! 

The Year Macaroni & Cheese Was Invited to Thanksgiving Dinner

The year 2020 will go down in history for many reasons. But in our family, it will also be remembered as the year that we began to have macaroni and cheese at our Thanksgiving dinner. 

I had never considered macaroni and cheese to be a Thanksgiving food. 

Turkey? Definitely. 

Mashed potatoes? Of course. 

Stuffing? Absolutely! (It's my personal favorite.)  

Corn? Yes. 

Cranberry? Yes. 

But I just don't think the Pilgrims ate macaroni and cheese. :)

Then in November of 2020, Kristin posted this graphic on her Facebook page . . . 

. . . and a family discussion ensued!

"Macaroni and cheese is Maryland's favorite side dish and we don't have it at our Thanksgiving dinner?!"

"Maybe that needs to change." 

At the November birthday party, a show of hands revealed that LOTS of people wanted mac-and-cheese for Thanksgiving and, thus, a new tradition began.

There was excitement on our family group chat!

According to some of us . . . 

What's your opinion on macaroni and cheese at Thanksgiving? It is that important?! 

If you celebrate American Thanksgiving, how do you feel about your state's favorite Thanksgiving side dish? Does your family eat that dish with your holiday meal?