Christmas Photos and Memories of 2023

 Our Christmas celebrations started on the 23rd. We went to my father in law's house. His wife cooks up a huge breakfast/brunch for us all.  Us parents eat in one room and all the grandkids eat with the grandparents in another room; it's a tradition that was started when the kids were younger and we all outgrew the dining room. 

Sitting around, talking, and waiting for lunch to be ready

After eating we open gifts starting with the youngest grandchild and working our way up to the oldest. Each child finds their own under the tree (the gift with their photo on it!) and then opens it before the next one gets up.  Once all the kids are done, the adults exchange small gifts in no particular order.

The last few years we've been trying to get better at taking photos of the grandkids and grandparents in front of the tree but I don't think we've had a year yet where everyone has made it; we were so close this year with one grandchild missing. 

My father in law can be like a kid sometimes and here he's hiding behind my nephew giving him bunny ears in the photo

Christmas eve we went to my mother's house and we tried something new this year with everyone bringing a gift (or two) for a Yankee swap.  We began our night playing a few card games waiting for our dinner. We played a round of Gathering of the Wicked and my team won in just 2 short rounds! 

We ate our pizza and then played several rounds of Pitch before getting to the Yankee swap.  First up was the group of kids. Anyone that brought a "kids" gift picked a number 1-6 and began opening and swapping.  

After the kids played anyone that brought an adult gift picked a number 1-10 and began opening gifs. I  had number 2 but didn't manage to hold onto my gift for very long.  By the end of the night I ended up coming home with some delicious toffee and flavored popcorn sets. 

We ended our night playing the candy cling wrap balls-- again we have two; one for kids and one for adults. 

Christmas day the boys were all up and ready to open gifts by 7 or 7:30 so we headed down to the basement and it took us longer than I thought it would to open gifts. Everyone had far fewer gifts but no one seemed like they were in a rush to open and really inspected what they opened. Ian wrapped his gift cards to Evan in like 4 or 5 different boxes within the larger box so that was funny to watch Evan open. 

We always start with stockings and open those at the same time since there is a lot of overlap into what they'll find inside. 

Ian opening his gift from Evan while Evan opens his gift from Ian (though we try to only have 1 opening a gift at a time sometimes the boys have other ideas)

Evan struggling to open Ian's gift while Ian laughs uproariously

Onto the second box... where he found 3 more boxes inside! 

After presents Alec and I got started on breakfast. He had made us croissants and just had to pop them in the oven while I made some cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon.  I forgot to take photos but the croissants were delicious!  We had one leftover that I managed to snap a quick photo of.

We went to visit my mother in law in the hospital around lunch time and then hung out at home until dinnertime when we headed to my brother in law's house for dinner and a few final gifts.  My sister in law had quite the spread with ham, broccoli, green beans, macaroni and cheese, cornbread casserole, sweet potato casserole, a chocolate peanut butter trifle... it was delicious! We brought over some homemade rolls that Alec delivered warm and fresh from the oven, some mashed potatoes, and a chocolate peanut butter pie. 

We played Tellestrations, Blank Slate, and Pitch. 

sorry it's so blurry but it's the only photo I took all night! 

Linking up with: Thinking Out Loud, Thankful Thursdays, Spread the Kindness,