A Blur

A Blur....at the moment that's what Christmas seems to be!  It passed so quickly, yet so wonderful were the memories our family shared.  I thought I would give a quick highlight of our days together celebrating Christ's Birth.  First, we started with a super cold snap.  Us Floridians were very excited!  We had several nights in the 20s with windchills in the teens.  The kids woke up to ice covering the water for our animals.  That made Christmas even more special for all of us as we bundled up and lit the fireplace.

It was the first Christmas's for our two grandsons.  I love seeing the tree lights reflect in babies' eyes.  They loved it!

We had all of our family together for Christmas Eve Brunch.  I am loving this tradition!  It's so nice having everyone all together.  

And having 5 grandbabies is amazing!

We ate a ton of yummy brunch together! Liberty was super excited for hashbrowns!

Then, we exchanged gifts.  My kids really are thoughtful gift givers.  Everyone got so much!

It was sweet to see what Liberty, Freedom and Victory picked out for their gifts.  It had us laughing at times, it was adorable.  

It was a really great Christmas Eve!

Then, Sunday dawned bright and early for Christmas.  It was such a wonderful day!  We were excited to celebrate Christ on a Sunday.  Didn't it make it that much more special? 

We decided to do our family traditions a little different.  We let the kids open a together gift before church.  (A milk frother/steamer.  They have been loving making lattes.)  

We had a beautiful Christmas service!

Then, we had a big Christmas turkey lunch.  It was delicious!  It was nice to fill our table with loved ones that were a little misplaced this Christmas.  They brought our table laughter and joy and we loved our Christmas lunch! After lunch we let our kiddos open another gift.  It was a game called Mysterious Empire.  We had fun learning a new game and trying to win.  It had a few quirks to it that we had to figure out the rules, but it was lots of fun. 

That evening we went back to church for a beautiful candlelight service.  It was so pretty!  There is just something about the lights being dim and candles lit that causes you to reflect more and be more grateful.  God sure has been good to us!

After church we came back home and enjoyed cheese fondue together.  Seasons in my life sure have changed.  It was just us six.  But it's amazing the contentment and joy God is giving me right here where I am with what I have.  It just keeps getting better and better!

Monday, December 26th was our Christmas morning.  We got up super early and divided all the gifts from under the tree.  There was a bunch!

We opened and opened and played and played.  It was a great day!!

That night we went to Denise's house for our annual Christmas family dinner.  Marc had bought prime rib roasts that Denise prepared.  Wow! That was an amazing meal!

We finished off singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  We had a figgy pudding cake.  I love this tradition and the family I get to spend it with!

And just like that it was over and time to take the tree out, And.....

get the flu.  Ew.

Patrick came home a few days after Christmas feeling achey and cold and hot....and that started it all.  Our family spent New Years at home.  Same with Josh's family.  We all had fevers and lots of nasty symptoms.  I'm so thankful that God has brought Godly men to our church that will preach and fill in while all of us were down.

We are now on the road to recovery and getting back to normal.  We just started school again and we are looking forward to a wonderful 2023!!