Celebrating Christmas.

 Saturday, Dec 24

Christmas Eve.

We had the Billats that were in town (Ashlyn and Hailey) over for our Christmas Eve festivities.

After dinner we read and reenacted a condensed Nativity story:

A big thank you to Jonah, Mar, and Bill for filling in some vital roles.

Getting ready for the traditional candy game...

Once the Billats had gone home, we exchanged gifts.

I got all the older kids the same thing this year. I'm not sure how well-liked the gifts were, but it was worth a try. It was something I thought they would all enjoy - a bug catcher and some binoculars. It's hard to feel like I'm winning at the gift-giving game. I don't think I've ever given something that was cherished and loved. I've been contemplating what I can change, and would love to gift experiences, but those are usually more pricey, and I'm not wealthy yet haha.

Mar and Jonah were here for Christmas, so we also gave them the traditional Christmas Eve pjs.

Sunday, Dec 25

Christmas Day

The next morning was pretty darn chill. I hope Bill and I didn't bore Mar and Jonah to death.

Later that day, Grandma and Grandpa Syddall dropped by with some gifts for the great grands.

So sweet of them to stop by!

We worked on a puzzle - gifted to us by our dear friends the Billats.

Monday, Dec 26

Tay and Nae are here!

After having so many parties and events this year, it was super nice to have a relaxing Christmas Day and following day. More family fun to come!

Goldsberry Family Christmas party.

 Tuesday, Dec 20

This has been a fun {mostly} annual tradition that started years ago with a holiday progressive dinner. I've hosted the past couple of years since we've lived in UT. I love it. I did, however, have one or more of my children say they have felt overloaded with extended family activities, and that perhaps we could cut back in the future. Hmmmm.... I can see their point, but I am also a sucker for tradition haha. I'm going to think on how to make it less pressure and stress for them, and perhaps have conversations with them prior to next year's holidays to check in on how they are feeling about things.

But on to the festivities (seriously... it's so fun!)

I think Brielle and Cal had a good time.

I did too!