Christmas 2013

AHHHH Christmas time, I love everything about it.  Good food and quality time spent with family and friends! 

 

Christmas is a little complicated for our family...with both Stephen, my sister and I working in healthcare someone is bound to be working some of the holiday and add to that the many Christmas gatherings our families have...it can become hectic to say the least.  Every year I say, we really need to rotate which family we spend the actual holiday with...and every year we end up running around to each family so we don't miss anything!

 

This year we started off the celebrating a little early with my dad, sister, brother-in-law and niece and nephew.  We typically celebrate our Christmas early so it is one less celebration to squeeze in on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  We hosted the gathering this year.  It was so much fun to have the whole family over to the new house and decorate the new house for the holiday!  We used to spend Christmas Day at my Grandma Doris' house until she passed away a few years ago.  It was a very traditional Norwegian feast...complete with lutefisk, meatballs, ribs, potatoes, corn, lefse, and flatbread.  I can't believe my grandma used to make all of the food for this on her own and fed a very large crowd.  Anywho...this year we decided to have a traditional Grandma Doris meal with my family and it turned out AWESOME!  My dad made meatballs from the Fron Church Cookbook and I made homemade lefse.  Grandma Doris was definitely smiling down from heaven watching us have a traditional meal!  

 

A little glimpse at the table set-up...note to self, in the next house we need a way bigger dining room

 

We got some awesome gifts!  I got a magic bullet and a new George Forman grill...complete with removable grill plates for easy cleaning...SCORE.  Stephen got a cordless drill and a whole bunch of tools!  Perfect!!!

 

Josie got some new toys and treats!  She had a lot of fun playing with the family!  We put her in the crate while we helped people gather their things to leave, no joke 3 minutes later we found her like this...all tuckered out.  What a sweet baby she is!

 

Next up we spent Christmas Eve morning at Stephens parents house with his siblings and parents.  We had a delicious brunch and opened gifts.  All of the kids got money this year which will come in handy as we continue to decorate the new house.  I also got a cake stand and some new lotion and body wash!

 

My father in law, Bob is really into taking selfies...so this is Bob's selfie with family...it took a few tries but somehow he managed to squeeze us all in!

 

Christmas Eve night we went to Stephens grandparents house to spend time with the whole extended Branham family!  We had some great food and good laughs with the family!  They have a fun tradition that has been going on forever called doorbell santa.  After all of the gifts have been opened...the doorbell rings and magically more gifts appear from doorbell santa.  Grandma Branham works really hard to gather things for our doorbell santa gifts.  I would kind of compare them to stockings, they have little trinkets and candy usually.  There is also a tradition that my father in law and his brothers get a totally outrageous hat or something festive to wear...we're talking flashing Rudolph noses, reindeer hats...etc. 

 

Apparently I missed the silly face memo...

 

We went to church on Christmas Eve at 10pm.  I love this service at St. Andrew because at the end of the service they turn out all of the lights in the sanctuary and everyone has candles while we sing silent night.  It is such a beautiful sight to look around the church at all of the candles, I can only imagine what it is a like to be our pastor staring out at the congregation...it must be breath taking.

 

On Christmas Day I went to my sisters house for brunch with my mom, step dad, brother, sister, brother in law, niece, and nephew.  Stephen had to work so I was flying solo with Josie.  She can be quite the handful when she is in a new place!  YIKES!  My brother in law's mom and brother were also there to celebrate Christmas with us.  It was so nice to see them!  After a little nap we headed back to my sisters for dinner and games.  My brother in law, Scott is an awesome cook and he made quite the feast for us, some kind of beef, feta mashed potatoes, chipotle and sesame carrots, roasted cauliflower, bread and all kinds of other goodies.  After the kids went to bed the adults played the dice game.  Its a fun tradition we have where everyone brings a $15 gift and we pass dice around and you have a to roll a double to get a gift.  After the first round everyone unwraps the gifts and then we have another timed round where people can steal from each other.  It gets rather competitive!  You aren't guaranteed to win a gift...and just my luck I didn't get one...AGAIN...seriously I don't get a gift most times.

 

Last but not least we celebrated one last time with my mom, step dad, sister, brother, brother in law, niece and nephew today!  We spent time at my mom's house making homemade pizzas and opening gifts.  Josie loved playing with my parents dog, Mosely.  They chased each other all around the house!  It was fun to see her socialize with another dog!  We got some great gifts once again!  I got a new winter coat, mittens, make up, and jewelry.  My mom and step dad also got us a group gift...two days on Lake Minnetonka where we will rent a boat and spend time together!  We had a great time doing this last summer to celebrate my moms birthday and are looking forward to getting out on the lake again this summer!

Avery and I have perfected the sassy diva pose!

The one nice picture I have of Stephen and I from Christmas!

 

As you can see Christmas was a little busy...and even though I say we need to pick a family to spend each holiday with every year...I wouldn't change our crazy Christmas for anything!  We are so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful families to spend the holidays with!