Both Mike and I agree that this Christmas was one of the most peaceful we’ve had in a long time. We weren’t overwhelmed with the details of the holiday, but rather focused in on Advent, homemade gifts, and togetherness. We spent one afternoon shopping, and that was it. It does help that our gift giving is limited to:
something you want
something you need
something to wear
something to read
And at least one of those ends up being handmade by me. Actually, this year, they are yet to be handmade by me. There is a stash of flannel waiting to be made into pyjama pants for the kids that will now be gifted out at the lake house on New Year’s Eve. I could have stayed up until 3am on Christmas Eve working to finish them. But why? Our celebration was amazing just as it was, and now we can extend the sweetness even longer.
While we usually have a few gatherings, two sets of our parents were out of town for the holiday, and so we had an intimate celebration with just our family and my sister in our home. It was such a peaceful day of slowly opening gifts (we start with stockings, and then open a gift now and then throughout the day), enjoying them separately and together, a lovely breakfast (waffles are our family tradition), and more gifts followed by time outside in the snow, dinner, and bedtime with new stories. It doesn’t matter that the stories have been read several times throughout the day already. Really.
Some moments from our day…
