Christmas Recap

The month of December was just a complete whirlwind. It was crazy busy and full of all of the emotions. We still managed to get a few cheerful activities in and spend some good quality family time with family at the holidays. We never really decorated our tree this year. We were hesitant to get it up with Maggie. This was our first Christmas with her and we did not know how she would handle the tree. I put the topper on and added the ribbon. We wanted to ease her into it but then realized we'd be gone for a week so decided to wait until after vacation to finish with the ornaments and filler. She played a lot with the tree branches but was not terrible at first. By the time Christmas got here, she had began to climb up into the lower level of the tree. Needless to say....it's a good thing we didn't decorate and we may need a new tree or solution next year.

To cheer me up and help get into the holiday spirit, Wyatt and I planned some local activities. Much to our dismay, we were a day late and missed the giant Purdue Memorial Union Christmas tree as the Union closed the day we tried to stop by and see it. We were able to go see a new find for us in Lafayette. The best home light display I think I have ever seen! The owner even walked around to cars stopped to watch and handed out candy and chatted. It was so neat! He even has a Santa hologram in one of his windows!

We both worked on Christmas Eve but celebrated Christmas with Wyatt's family that night. We spent a lot of time over at his parents house during the week that his Grandma was up here. It was good to have good quality family time. On Christmas morning we drove to Southern Indiana. We had lunch with my mom's side of the family, spent the afternoon with my dad's side of the family and then drove ahead home to my parents house for Christmas with my family. Wyatt had to work the next day so he left early the next morning and Allison and I stayed until after lunch before heading back up north.

I hosted my girlfriends for a Favorite Things party the Friday after Christmas. It was so fun! We hadn't gotten together in far too long so it was a great time to catch up on everything we've missed. I made vegetable pizza, a charcuterie board and cheeseballs, and dirt pudding and asked the girls to bring an appetizer or dessert so we could all graze a little as we hung out. I was able to use some of the great wedding gifts we got, including our crystal serving pieces and our Emily McCarthy Shoppe goodies. I asked everyone to bring 3 of their favorite thing to gift and we all walked away with 3 great gifts! I can see a definite self care theme to everyone's gifts and I love it!