Christmas weekend 2017

I love the way Christmas fell on a Monday this year. I was able to spend time with my in-laws and still have Christmas with just Sean. It’s really important to make and keep some traditions between Sean and myself, just as it is to be with our families.

This Christmas weekend, we drove to upstate New York early Friday afternoon. When we arrived we quickly dropped off our things and were out the door with Sean’s parents, niece and nephew. We needed to pick up some food for Saturday night’s dinner and we had a blast while doing so. Who would have thought grocery shopping could be so fun?

When we returned from the grocery store, we settled in quickly and began watching movies, stuffing our faces and drinking wine. We watched “The Giver” on Netflix and I absolutely loved it. If you haven’t already seen it, I recommend that you do.

The following morning it was so nice to wake up leisurely. I took my time getting up and when I could lounge no more I began to get ready. A few hours later we exchanged gifts with Sean’s family and then I began to prepare Christmas dinner for 16 people. Every year (except for last year) I make lasagna for Christmas dinner but it was the first time making it for more than Sean’s immediate family. I didn’t think I would be ready by dinner time but with Sean’s assistance dinner was ready right on time. It was such a nice gathering. I loved looking around and seeing everyone so happy and the sounds of laughter that filled the room was such a bonus.

I decided on a new tradition to do with my niece and nephew so I brought out the gingerbread house kit and we began to decorate it. It was my first time decorating a gingerbread house and I had such a good time doing it with my niece and nephew. My mother in law was in charge of placing mistletoes randomly around the house and it was just a neat experience. I enjoyed seeing how much my niece and nephew got into and I’m looking forward to doing this with them every year from now on.

It came out pretty good, right?!






And in the daylight.






The following day (Christmas Eve) we were back on the road to Pennsylvania. When we reached home we took long naps and I gotta tell you there is nothing like sleeping in your own bed. We woke up and made it to Christmas Eve service. After service, we took a little drive to check out the SteelStacks lit up for Christmas. Excuse the extremely dark images but taking pictures at night is not the easiest. After that, we picked up our Chinese takeout to continue our Christmas Eve tradition of Chinese food takeout, wine, opening and exchanging of gifts and of course, Christmas movies.














Izabella enjoying her new bed and festive bone.

The following morning (Christmas Day), we woke up to realize that snow had fallen, what a nice surprise. I made cinnamon buns while Sean made delicious hash browns and scramble eggs. We enjoyed breakfast with a hot cup of coffee with the perfect view of the Christmas tree. I saved my two favorite Christmas movies for last; The Holiday and Love Actually.

For dinner, Sean grilled (yes, grilled, outside in the cold!) chicken and we just enjoyed the rest of Christmas day. It was such a relaxing weekend and I loved waking up in our home on Christmas Day as I haven’t done it in years. I can’t say it will always be like this because it’s just the way Christmas fell this year, but I loved every minute of it.

I hope you all had wonderful Christmas celebrations with the ones you love!
Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year! ♥