and a great Christmas too!

Not only did I have a wonderful New Year, I had a wonderful Christmas holiday too!!
I drove south from Seattle the night of the 23rd and faced a good bit of traffic, but I made it safe and sound to my Grandma's house greeted with lots of love. I then went out to a perfect dinner :)
Christmas eve morning I headed to my cousin's house and babysat her two sweet children, Rafe and Ellie. I had a great time getting to hang out with them. That night when Allison (my cousin) and Richard (her wonderful husband) got home from work we had great Thai food take out, joined by my mom and her childhood friend Barb. It was great food with great company :)

 

Underwear fight! 

After dinner and good conversation my mom and I headed over to midnight mass where my Grandma sang. It was a beautiful service.

We got back to Allison and Richard's ready to crash. We spent the night there and woke up Christmas morning to excited children raving about the gifts under the tree. I stayed a bit while they dug into the christmas presents.

                          

I soon headed over to my dad's where I celebrated Christmas day with my dad, Carol, Grandma Mary, Grandma Caroline, Grandpa Rich and three of my favorite little men, Sean, Andrew and Matthew. My brothers were of the few that I actually purchased gifts for and I was so excited to see them open their presents up! They all raved and loved what I got them (I got exactly what they asked for, no guessing there!). It was a really special time to share with them. We also had a great meal and just a really relaxed day together.

That evening I headed back to my mom's house where we exchanged gifts. This is always a special part of Christmas for me. We open our stalkings while we sit around and enjoy each other's company. My wonderful momma also prepared a DELICIOUS pot roast meal. It was the perfect way to end Christmas day.

Can you tell I was a bit all over the place? There were definitely a lot of back and forths, as there tend to be when it comes to visiting home, but it was simply lovely and pretty much perfect in my book :)

I really treasure Christmas. I love how it brings out the spirit of giving, time with family and delicious food, but really the best part is the reason for the season, Jesus! (Check out this blog post to read more about my thoughts on this!)
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that you have time to reflect and remember those treasured moments.
Stay tuned for an overdue Thankful Thursday post tomorrow!