I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Every year, it seems like the holidays come & go way too fast! I thought I would take a little time today to share what our Christmas looked like this year & to give an update on how my December Bucket List turned out!
This year was a very special one because we have a new addition to our family. Our niece was born on November 26th. It was so much fun to have a baby around this holiday, we love her so very much! We all enjoyed spoiling her & loving on her...she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!
We spent Christmas Eve with my family this year, having dinner at my grandparents & then going back to my parents house to watch movies & hang out. All of my siblings & their significant others stayed at my parents house this year, a first in a very long time! It was like we were all kids again. We got up early Christmas morning to have breakfast & to open our presents, then Sean & I were off to spend Christmas day with his mom, stepdad, sister & her family. The day after Christmas, we left for Sacramento to spend a few days with Sean's dad & stepmom.
If you read my December Bucket List post, you know that there were some things that I wanted to do this holiday season. Most of the items on my list were accomplished...while some didn't go exactly as planned. Here is a look!
Decorating cookies - This one definitely got accomplished. We decorated cookies with my mom as well as my mother-in-law. They were so delicious! Sugar cookies, Russian tea cakes & peanut butter blossoms are what were made. We still have containers full of cookies. Yuuuuuum!
Driving around to look at Christmas lights - Sadly, we didn't get to go to Zoo Lights, Peacock Lane, or the Portland International Raceway this year. Every time we planned on going, they got cancelled because of the weather. We did get to drive around & see some neighborhood lights, though!
Cutting down a tree - We did this at the beginning of December & it was our very first real Christmas tree! I have to admit that I didn't realize how much work it was to have a real tree. Getting it into the house without making a mess is impossible, we had to buy a tree stand & water it! Who knew? ;) The hardest part I think was stringing the lights, though. So different than setting up our pre-lit artificial tree! Although it was definitely worth it to have that fresh, Christmasy smell :)
Decking the halls - If you happened to read my last post, you saw that we did indeed deck the halls! We didn't decorate as much as we have done in the past, but I loved how simple our decorations looked this year.
Getting all cozy & watching a Christmas movie - We slacked big time when it came to watching Christmas movies this year. This is one of my favorite things to do during the holidays & we just didn't have time for it this year. I think the only time we actually got cozied up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn to watch a movie was on Christmas Eve. We started to watch Home Alone & Sean & I didn't even make it to the end :( Hopefully next year we will do better!
The Nutcracker - My mom, sister, grandma, aunt, cousins & I all went to The Nutcracker at the Oregon Ballet in Portland. It was absolutely beautiful! Of course I love it every year, but this year it was amazing. We had a wonderful, fancy dinner before & saw the evening performance from the balcony. There was a live orchestra which added to the magical evening. This is always a favorite tradition of mine!
I would love to hear about your Christmas holiday! Do you have any special traditions?
Wishing you a happy New Year, see you in 2017! XOXO
