Celebrating Christmas (Week 1 of our Christmas Break)

What a special week we have had.

At this very moment we are sitting by the Christmas tree, watching Lord of the Rings (as per our annual holiday tradition) and thanking our lucky stars that we have another week off of work/school.  

If this past week is any indication, we are in for a fun second half of our Christmas break.

Last Friday we all completed school by 1:00 pm and excitedly dashed home ready to let Christmas officially begin.  We baked and decorated and ended the day by having a cozy family slumber party.  

We moved our mattresses out into the main room and all feel asleep while watching a Christmas movie.   This may become a new tradition for us.  

On Saturday we took a little drive out to Waterton.  I had wanted to hike up Akimina Road but the wind was blowing much too fiercely for that, so we settled for a quick stroll by the dock and then back home where we knew it'd be much warmer. 

Christmas Eve was such a fun day for me.  John had the task of going into Lethbridge with Grandpa to pick up a few things, but the kids and I got to stay at home and play.  Due to the fact that it had not snowed in weeks, we had resigned ourselves to the prospect of a brown Christmas.   At some point that afternoon we decided to embrace the brown and go for a warm weather walk.  I am so glad that we did!   The kids and I found a lot for sale that we now dream about buying, we paused to watch an owl, and we found the coolest spot on Lee Creek for skating.  We slid up and down the creek for quite awhile, determined to bring John back as soon as we could.  

We got back in the house in just enough time to prepare our Christmas Eve feast.  

Steak, Lobster, Crab, Shrimp, Muscles and a lot of other food that nobody ever cares about, at least not when Lobster and Crab are being served.    It was all delicious as always.  

After dinner we did what we always do:

The kids exchanged gifts with each other, we drove around looking at Christmas lights, and we settled in to watch Polar Express before the kids went to bed.

Nate made sure to set out milk and cookies for Santa and I suspect that is the last time he may do so.
One of the funnest things about Christmas has always been watching my kids anticipate Santa.  

It just may be the end of a sweet, deceitful ride.  

It was 2:00 am before John and I were able to crawl into bed, finally having everything assembled, wrapped and filled.  Come to think of it, maybe Christmas will be a lot simpler without the whole Santa part of it to maintain;)

Christmas Day came quickly.  The kids waited as patiently as they could for Grandpa to show up and then they made short work of all the unwrapping there was to do.

I like to think they all got a bit of what they asked for.

Nate got his Labo Robot kit and a sled.

Abby got long jogging pants and art supplies.

Jessica got an artist table and all things "puppy."

Sam got Sports Check gift card, a basketball and a seasons pass at the local golf course.

My hope is that my kids felt not just content, but completely satisfied with this abundant life we get to live. 

Santa was sure good to John this year.
I gifted him with a new suit (so he can look dapper going to those meetings he loves, and boy does he!;) a computer bag, and a book.  His brother trumped all that big time when he gifted John and I with an Alaskan Cruise.    An.Alaskan.Cruise people!  (mic drop)

There will be an entire post about this down the road, I am sure.   I am still just kinda struggling to process and find words.  Some words that come to my mind are: 

undeserving.

unanticipated.

unimaginable.

unable to repay.

unequal.

and undeserving.  

(Oh, did I say that already?)

More on this down the road.  

The rest of Christmas day was a party. 

I had carved out a few hours of time in which we snuck down to our newly discovered outdoor rink with John.  The kids had begged me for some quality time together on Christmas day and it kinda broke my heart that this was even something they begged me for.  Either John and I have been too busy this past month or I have raised complete and utter hermits.  (I think both!)

The creek was just as awesome on Christmas day as it was the day before.  Better in fact, because this time we brought chairs, and skates, and hockey sticks!

That evening John's sister Rachel, brother Ben and their families arrived - and that is when things really got fun!   We had a Christmas Turkey dinner, played games, snacked until way too late, and then did that same thing all over again the next day.   These are some of our cutest little nieces and nephews and they are all smitten with Sam, which always makes for a good laugh. 

  It was really nice to see everyone!

John took the kids out (after company had all left) to practice ice fishing.  It was apparently an awesome fun time, so we will have to fit a return to Payne lake into our incredibly busy week coming up.   Let's hope the sun shines!

John and I celebrated 17 years of marriage this past week.

We chose to go to Waterton and hike before dining at Vimy's.

The wind was howling fiercely and made the task more arduous than we would have liked.  We determinedly pressed on.  #17 years

The Salmons popped over on Saturday for a visit and we made sure to show them our favorite Skating spot.   Full disclosure - with the wind whipping around, it didn't seem nearly as magical this time around.  (Nothing a little hot chocolate and banana bread couldn't fix though;)  

I am sure grateful for the friendship of this family.

So ...that brings me to today.  

We are currently experiencing a pretty heavy duty snow storm, watching Return of the King and basking in the glow of our freshly decorated New Years Tree.  

Feeling blessed.