Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day

 

I've written about how busy we were around the holidays but have yet to write about the actual holidays themselves.

Christmas Eve is always our family's quiet day. The day where it is just the three of us and we like to stay home and be together.

I got up really early on Christmas Eve morning (I couldn't sleep) and it was super cold outside. I turned on the fireplace, grabbed a blanket and sat on the couch - enjoying the quiet with Mei Mei...

Doug, Bri and I watched some Christmas shows that day and relaxed. Doug drank eggnog out of his Wally World moose glass and we ate our Honey Baked Ham with all the fixins for dinner...

We put the presents under the tree and in the stockings and went to bed...

Then came Christmas morning.

 This is the first year that I barely took any photos of Christmas morning. I have a teenager now and honestly, I just wanted to enjoy the morning and not really document it. Shocking! I know.

 The presents waiting under the tree...

Briana opening gifts...

Doug receiving his mug...

My drawing/present (which was framed) from Briana...

Mei absolutely loved her gift. I stuck it in front of the fireplace and she went right to sleep...

Briana's big gift - a gaming chair. We hid it in the kitchen and told her to go in there when she was done opening her other gifts. She put her chair in her hangout room (I used to call the room she hangs out in her playroom but she's too old for that term now. I guess I'll call it her hangout/homework room)...

Once we got done opening presents, I made a little breakfast for us and then we all got dressed and headed to my parent's house... 

Once my sister and her family arrived, it was time to open gifts...

Briana's digitally drew all the pictures below for my family (and I helped her frame them)...

Malificent was for my sister, Westley and Buttercup (Princess Bride) for my BIL, Roxie Hart (Chicago) for my dad and I Love Lucy for my mom. They were a HUGE hit!

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The last night of Hanukkah landed on Christmas Day, so at sundown, we were able to light candles at my parent's house...

 Evening time...

It was a really great, family-filled day (including Chinese food delivery for dinner) and it was finally time to head home.

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Then New Year's Eve came around.

 Being the big time homebodies that we are, we were very happy just staying home new year's evening...

Doug grilled filet mignons for dinner and then we watched Deadpool in our theater. Then, we watched the ball drop on TV...

I can't think of anyone else I would want to ring in the new year with!

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New Year's Day - we rested. December was a lot of hustle and bustle with a little sickness thrown in - and we needed rest. Let me correct myself - Bri and I rested. Doug decided to bake and cook that entire day. 

First, he made cinnamon rolls with icing from scratch for breakfast...

Then he baked lobster roll buns, also from scratch, and put together lobster rolls for our New Year's Day dinner. He made both Maine style and Connecticut style fillings. I loved both, but Maine style was my favorite...

Everything was DELISH! He spoiled us so badly that day. What a great way to start the year 2023!

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So that is IT!!!  I finished blogging about our Christmas season. Whew! And it's still January! Yay me!

We are now back in the regular groove again for the month of January...school, work, etc...

 Except - we did have a big occasion in January we had to celebrate. Doug turned 50! Woo Hoo! 

More on that soon...

Our 2022 Christmas Activities

We had a really fun, very busy Christmas season.

 

Just one blip - Doug and I both got colds in December. His cold was less intense than mine per usual. I had to reschedule my plans the third weekend in December because I was just feeling too sick to see anyone. I will say as icky as I felt, it was nothing compared to the year before when I was sick with bronchitis and sinusitis and had laryngitis for about a month. This time, I was only sick with a head cold for about 4 days and then I felt better. So other than those 4 days, December was really good. I couldn't believe I got over it that quick - that never happens.

So on to the good stuff!

 

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Back in November, Briana and I sneaked over to the pottery studio so Bri could paint another mug for Doug for Christmas. It is a long standing tradition, and Doug looks forward to a new mug every year. Luckily, Doug has lots of likes and interests. It is pretty easy to come up with a new theme each year.  For 2022, Briana chose "Dr. Who" and painted a Tardis...

Here are all of the mugs Briana has painted for Doug for Christmas over the years (except 2020...due to the pandemic, she drew an amazing picture and uploaded it to Shutterfly)...

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Speaking of coffee, right at the beginning of the Christmas season, Doug got the sought after "red cup" from Starbucks...

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I purchased a gingerbread house decorating kit in 2021 that Briana never got around to making. She came across it during the Christmas season and decided to decorate the house. Since the kit was over a year old, the icing ended up being a bit stiff so I threw it away (and fyi - we never eat the candy in the kits). So, I had some chocolate frosting and white icing on hand in my pantry and voila - a gingerbread house masterpiece...

 

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 Doug, Bri and I saw "Anastasia" at the Fox Theater in December. We really, really enjoyed it - the singers were amazing. 

The outside of the Fox and the lobby...

Inside the theater (front row!)...

Of course, I couldn't take pictures during the performance, but here are some pictures I snagged off the internet of the musical. These are all the actual performers we saw in December...

It was a fun family night out.

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We had a delicious hibachi dinner with our friends, the C family (Bri's friend Meredith) - always a fun time!

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After a 4 year hiatus, my sister and I resurrected Christmas cookie baking/decorating day with the cousins (and my parents came to watch for a while).

The crew came over to my house. It was a day that was a lot of fun, quite yummy and a bit chaotic all at the same time!

The kids have grown so much...

Cookie baking and decorating madness...

These were Briana's "flooded" cookie creations...

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A few days after Christmas, we visited with our friends the M family (Bri's friend Chani). We had an absolutely delicious lunch (they cooked us beef wellington - we were seriously spoiled!) and a fun afternoon of catching up...

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And right after the new year, friends Amy and Mary came over for a nice lunch and an afternoon of conversation. This was the get together that I had to postpone due to my lovely cold. Friends Valerie and Imerie were supposed to join us for the rescheduled get together, but then they couldn't come because of sickness! Dang winter! They were greatly missed.

We ladies had a really lovely time...

Briana sewed the "Audrey II" that is sitting on her shoulder for Mary for Christmas. Bri really got into sewing on her sewing machine over the Christmas break.

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As you can see, we had a really busy Christmas season! It was really nice and full of memories. What more could I ask for? 

Up next, the last of my 2022 holiday posts (woo hoo!) - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Hanukkah, New Years Eve and New Years Day.