Christmas Eve/Christmas Day

My gal is crazy, isn't she? LOL! I love that my kid has a sense of humor. It's really the only that gets you through this life sometimes. ;)

We woke up Christmas Eve and decided to just have a quiet day of watching movies and opening Christmas Eve gifts. I was really beginning to feel run down. I had been doing a lot and I needed some down time.

In the above picture, Bri received a small Christmas Eve gift from Gramma and Papa. She really loved her new panda eyeglass case.

Doug luckily bought us a Honeybaked Ham (and my mom provided me with homemade potato salad), so dinner was quite easy for me to put out that evening...

Another Christmas Eve gift Bri received from me and Doug was this nightgown. It is very appropriate for my girl that loves to sleep in...

Thank goodness dinner was relatively easy because I started not feeling well. I kept thinking to myself it must be allergies, but deep down I knew something was up.

Bri and I set out milk and cookies for Santa, and I realized I forgot to buy carrots for the reindeer. So, we decided sliced apples would be sufficient. I mean, the reindeer get lots of carrots anyway, right?

Santa finally arrived...

Mei was ready to dig into the presents...

Briana is so dang expressive when she opens gifts. I wonder where she gets that from - heh (I get slightly excited opening gifts too)...

The biggest item on her list ~ Nintendo 3DS...

She absolutely loves this blanket...

Briana drew me this beautiful picture, and Doug and Bri actually made the frame (they used a miter saw and everything)...

Doug opened his gifts from Bri (his "Grill" mug and Star Wars magnets)...

Mei loved her Christmas gift too...

Yes, even Pink Baby got a gift...

Briana discovering her note from Red...

After opening gifts at home, it was time to head to Gramma and Papa's house. Unfortunately, I realized that I was definitely coming down with a cold. I felt so bad that I was going to expose my family to my sickness, but I didn't want to miss Christmas with them. So, I gave everyone a big warning once they saw me to keep their distance if possible.

My mom's house looked so pretty...

Briana also made pictures for Gramma and Papa and also made the frames...

Briana got some great gifts too...

I gave my mom and sister Asian-themed throw pillows...

My parents hilariously gave Doug a small crockpot with a pig on the lid...

Stocking goodies...

And this was me that day. I surprisingly didn't look too horrible...

I'm looking down in this picture though. On top of the cold, as I was at my parents' house, I noticed one of my eyes started turning red. A few hours later, the other one started to turn red too. I couldn't believe it. I was also coming down with pink eye.

We ate a quick dinner of Chinese delivery (our yearly tradition) and then we lit the Hanukkah candles because it was the second night of Hanukkah...

Right after that, I had to head home. I did enjoy spending time with my family, but I was really starting to feel badly, needed to lie down and I had to get away from everyone. I was just starting to feel better from my months of sinus infection and anxiety, and I got hit with the worst head cold ever and double pink eye. How is that even possible? I have no idea.

More on that next.

Christmas Season 2016 - Part 2

Spending time with family and friends really got me through the Christmas holiday. I didn't want being under the weather and feeling anxious to stop me from celebrating the season.

First, I had a wonderful Christmas lunch with two of my favorite people ~ Amy and Valerie...

Amy also had a Christmas party one evening ~ which was really a lot of fun...

My friend/neighbor Laura invited Bri, Mary and Imerie to join her daughter Ella in making Christmas gifts for their teachers on a Saturday afternoon...

They had a little lunch buffet first...

And then they got busy making Oreo treats and sugar scrubs...

Laura even had gift bags ready for the girls to assemble...

I gave the girls cat ear headbands and they gave us silly faces...

The girls had a wonderful afternoon, and the teachers were quite appreciative when they got their gifts!

Doug, Bri and I had our traditional evening out together with Gramma and Papa ~ this year we went out to eat Italian food...

Briana trying on Papa's hat...

We also got together one evening with Uncle Jimmie and had a nice dinner...

We went to Aunt Amy's house and made Christmas cookies with the cousins...

Bri made some really beautiful cookies this year...

Gramma came over to help make cookies too...

And finally, it was time for Bri's class party. Bri loves her teacher...

Bri and her sweet friends...

Silly sock exchange...

Huge smiles from Bri because Christmas was coming (and she had two weeks off from school)...

Kisses from Daddy...

I can't believe I accomplished all of that with the way I had been feeling. I am not sure I could have done all of that in Oct and Nov. I was grateful I was improving enough to actually enjoy a lot of Christmas.

Next up, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ~ and you won't believe it ~ but I got struck with sickness once again...