Christmas 2023

We had another wonderful Christmas this year and are very grateful.  The weather was mild so we were able to get outside, the kids were happy and thankful for their gifts, and we were able to spend time with both the Holick and Taylor sides over the course of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

Before church on Christmas Eve.  Unfortunately, this was the only picture I took.  We latter hosted the Wolfers, Papo and Grammie which the kids alway love.  We kept things pretty simple with the dinner menu, the kids hung out, Papo read the Night Before Christmas and everyone headed home to get ready for Santa.

They set up Nolan's room earlier that day for their Christmas Eve sleepover.  I love this little tradition of theirs.  When we cleaned it up, we found three dirty forks under the air mattress.  Apparently Nolan smuggled Jesus' birthday cake out of church that night and they all woke up in the middle of the night to eat it.  It was hard to get mad when I knew that they were sharing in a secret memory of their own.

Let the fun begin!

They even paused for breakfast this year.  I opted to have store bought breakfast again and it was so nice to take breakfast off of my to do list again.  We had cinnamon rolls, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and coffee cake from Beehive.  Everyone was happy.

Mairin designed this tee for Eric and even added a personalized interior neck tag that said "I love you. Love, Mairin."

Best part of the morning.  The second Nolan came downstairs, you could tell he was scanning the gifts for one in the shape of a phone.  He has been so patient but desperately wanting his own phone since we have held off on getting one.  When he opened is last gift and found "car washing towels" he started to cry and was devastated.  He wouldn't even open the box to look inside.  Eric had to basically pull the phone out of it for him.

Happiest kid ever.  I'm excited for him and hopeful it doesn't cause too many problems.

Eric's new shuffleboard table.  This spot has sat empty for two years and I finally found a table that works well in the space.  Now we just need some barstools and a rug for that area.

Later that afternoon we headed over to Darby and Bill's house for a low-key Christmas evening.  The highlight was getting to see baby Liam again and introducing him to the kids and Eric.

Nolan wouldn't hold Liam but came home and wanted to be swaddled at bedtime.