Christmas 2019
We had such a great Christmas this year. It was our very first Christmas in our new home. I love getting to make new memories here. It really makes it feel more like home as we continue to live here. This was also the first year Melody actually understood and liked Santa. No tears this year!! We also did a lot of traveling and visiting family, and we continued a lot of our traditions from years’ past.
Christmas Decor
This year we had a lot more space to decorate. I tried not to buy too much new stuff though. We did buy a few small things, and we found a great Black Friday deal on garland for a our staircase. Next year I plan to even add more!
Breakfast with Santa
Earlier this month, we visited my in-laws to go to their country club to have breakfast with Santa. We don’t get to go every year, but we do try and go when we can fit it in our schedule. This year they joined a new country club, so we invited the husbands to go along. The food was really good. It was a brunch instead of just breakfast food. You could also visit Santa at any time which was convenient. And lastly, they had a cookie decorating station for the kiddos. We really enjoyed the time, and none of the girls cried!
Christmas PJ Pictures
I was struggling with Christmas card pictures this year. We actually met Santa so late into December, I knew that would not work. So I decided to have Melody get dressed in her Christmas pajamas, and we took some pictures around the staircase.
Christmas at School
On Melody’s last day of preschool before winter break, they had a Christmas program. Melody had so much fun singing all of their Christmas music. She was front and center and oh so cute. After their adorable performance, they had treats available, and we got to meet Santa again!
Annual Grille 29 Dinner
As you have probably noticed from my posts, we love Grille 29. It is our go-to restaurant for all things nice. A tradition we have had for as many years as I can remember is to eat a nice dinner there during Christmas time. This year was quite the same, but with a more antsy toddler (hence the limited pictures at dinner).
Christmas with the Romanses
On our way to spend time in Memphis with Brad’s family for Christmas, we stopped at my cousins for Christmas with my mom’s side of the family. We just don’t see them enough. We all live about an hour apart and have small kids. They kids had so much playing, visiting, and opening gifts. And we had a lot of fun with Greedy Santa and visiting too.
Christmas with the Paynes
We spent two nights with Brad’s family. We didn’t get to see everyone, but unfortunately that is how it goes. We went to Starry Nights which is a drive-thru Christmas light display. Melody loved it! We also spent Christmas Eve morning with our nieces and doing Christmas with Brad’s immediate family. We had a nice brunch, and the girls had so much fun together.
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve night, we cooked steaks and potatoes. This is our usual tradition if we are not traveling that evening. We also made cookies for Santa, and we wore matching pajamas for bedtime! And Melody’s school had all the kids make reindeer food, so we were sure to leave that out too!
Christmas Morning
As you can see below, I didn’t use the camera much on Christmas morning. I snapped a few videos and took a few pictures, but I tried to enjoy the moment. Melody received what she wanted from Santa, “Elsa’s castle”. It is huge and I have no clue where it is going, but she loved it. She also loved the vacuum Brad gave her. It matches ours and she is pumped!
Christmas with the Brookses
Christmas afternoon, we headed to my parents to spend Christmas Day with them. We opened gifts, ate yummy food, and we saw my aunt for the first time in almost 4 years.
Other Odds and Ends
So some additional Christmas fun below but they don’t really fit above. Mom and I did some shopping and ice cream eating with Melody. Melody LOVED her advent calendar this year. She was really into it. Every day she knew what number was next. It was a lot of fun. We took some goofy photos (no clue when that was!). And we had Christmas with Lydia (and Emily, Justin, and Dalton too!).
This year was full of lots of fun and lots of blessings. We can’t wait to see what all the new year has in store for us! Merry late Christmas and Happy early New Year!
