They were merry & bright {Christmas celebrations- a wordy recap}

We had a few really fun, highly caloric, and meaningful Christmas celebrations. Here are more details-

Christmas Eve- This day ended up being a bit unusual though all of our regular Christmas Eve traditions were observed. Alyssa’s boss sent out an SOS text on the 23rd to see if anyone could work Christmas Eve. Alyssa asked us if there was any way she could miss church so that she could work (she actually didn’t ask to miss going to church- just to miss going to our church. The church that we used to attend had a couple of Christmas Eve services on the 23rd (it’s a big church so many services are spread throughout the two days leading to Christmas)) so she asked if she could go to our old church on the 23rd to see that Christmas service and miss going to ours so that she could work.  I told her that I did not want her missing going to church with us Christmas Eve. She said she understood and thought that was what I was going to say. (I was proud of her for being willing to work but did not want work to stand in the way of going to church. She is only responsible for paying for gas for her car (she only needs to fill up about once a month) and Starbucks so by not allowing her to work, we didn’t deprive her of funds that she desperately needed. 

No one from her work said that they could work and Alyssa asked us if was OK if she responded to her boss that she could work but she had to go to church- so she would have to leave work for church and could come back for about an hour if need be. Her boss responded that they would love for her to work whenever she could and would work around the church service. Alyssa went straight to church from work (she changed her clothes) and then she went back to work for about an hour before our dinner plans. So the day was unusual but it all worked out. I am super proud of Alyssa’s work ethic; both of her bosses really like her and have complimented her work efforts and ethic. Being willing to work on Christmas Eve further solidified their liking of her ;).

So Alyssa worked, I cooked the Christmas turkey on Christmas Eve (the best decision that I’ve made all month- possibly the top five of the year, lol), and got lots of other food items prepped for the next day. We went to church where we heard a great service and then we went to West Chester to Mark and Cindy’s for a wonderful meal and get together with family and friends of Mark & Cindy.

Some pictures from the day:

I have a picture of the turkey carcass that I was going to post but then I thought, nah, no one wants to see that (but I wanted to post it because I was so proud of my decision to make the turkey the day before we ate it. I was able to take my time and get all the meat off and I didn’t have to worry about cleaning up the big mess when guests were here on Christmas day).

This picture of food looks a bit more appealing- I made this tray to bring to Mark & Cindy’s house.

Mark and Cindy had food catered and they also made/ bought many yummy items.

Cindy and me

Cindy bought a rum cake at Graeter’s- Donnie loved this!!

I guess I deserve these looks, lol. 

Mark and his friend Marty- they’ve been friends since they were in elementary school.

Love this picture- I think it’s only the second one ALL YEAR of the five of us

Christmas Day- The day started bright and early- there was little time to spare..We got the kids up to open their stockings and presents per the usual. Everyone liked what he/ she received. Then it was GO time!! It was all hands on deck to complete the meal and clean up preparations.

The day went well! All the food from the meal was well received and not all of it was from me. Everyone pitched in and we ended up with a true feast. 

After the meal, we visited some more and then had another round of opening presents. We all received many thoughtful items and enjoyed giving the gifts that we had for extended family.

When everyone left, we cleaned up and relaxed for a little bit before bed.

A few pictures from the day:

The stockings were hung in the entry way with care (I bought new stockings a few years ago but the kids really like their OG stockings so I still use and display their OG ones).

I prepared a copy cat Honey Baked ham- it turned out good!

I was short one table setting. Oops.

We also had to use the Christmas room for the meal but that’s exactly what it was designed for 🎄😊🎄

We had Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, another rum cake from Graeter’s and lots of other items. My favorite hands down was the homemade Oreo cake that my mother in law made and brought.

UM, YES! I will take some cake with my icing!! The icing was TO DIE FOR and it was thick. I went to bed with the worst stomachache because I could not stop eating it.

Abby’s boyfriend joined us 😊

Christmas with some of my family- In the next couple of days, some of my family members trickled into town and we had a celebration during the week. This was a low key celebration but what it lacked it grandeur it made up for in heartfelt gratitude of us being together. I made an easy meal of ham and cheese  sliders, macaroni and cheese, veggies and shrimp and provided (not made!) of course, dessert. Marie Calendar’s Razzleberry pie for the win!

The cousins played a minute to win it game. I saw rudimentary information about it somewhere recently (a blog post maybe?). You place marshmallows on a surface and have people try to pick up the marshmallows with their hands encased in plastic cups. Whoever gets the most marshmallows onto a plate wins. We kind of made up the rules about who the winner would be. We put the same number of marshmallows near each person´s plate. The winner was whoever got all of the marshmallows on her plate first or whoever got the most in a minute if no one got them all on in a minute. We played rounds until one person won two rounds. The prize was a Starbucks gift card. The girls all wanted to win!! It was fun :).

Christmas with the boyfriends- Alyssa’s boyfriend went out of state for Christmas with his family and then he had to work so the teens didn’t see each other for about a week. Fortunately, he was able to come over one evening (after Christmas) when Abby’s boyfriend was also available (he’s been working over the break as well). The adorable couples decorated gingerbread houses.

We didn’t scare him off when he came over on Christmas- perhaps a Christmas miracle??