My family and I had another great Christmas this year. As always, it comes and goes so fast and I'm always left feeling a little sad when it's over. There's just something special about spending time with family this time of year. Thankfully, Dillan is still able to be home for the Christmas holidays and we always enjoy having some quality time with him as well.
I guess you could say, we officially kicked off the holiday weekend with our annual themed Christmas party. It will forever be impossible to beat our Whoville theme last year (you can read all about it HERE). But this year's Pancakes and Pajamas theme was so much fun! It was also easy to pull off and didn't require alot of extra decorating or special dishes for a meal. And let's face it....sometimes the easy things are just what's needed for the time.
We usually have a backdrop in the garage for family pictures, but decided to just use the Christmas tree/mantel area in the living room this year. Again, it was just the easier thing to do this year as we were pressed for time.
We keep a box of props in the attic and always have fun pieces to use for our pictures.
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| Me and my sisters: Shaana, Suzanne, and Lisa |
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| the grandchildren |
On Christmas Eve, our church held a candlelight service and we observed the Lord's Supper. It was a very special time and I'm so glad we could attend as a family. Without any other obligations that night, we were able to go home after the service and enjoy a nice meal and relax until bedtime. Even though Dillan is 22 years old, I always make him go to bed before us so Santa can come :) His gifts from Santa are wrapped in advance under the tree, but stocking stuffers are put out last minute.....and I don't want him to see it until the next morning....LOL!
I found myself reminiscing about Dillan's first Christmas and looked at a couple of his personalized books given to him at 9 months of age by one set of grandparents. So sweet!
I love my little family so much and thank God for them every day. I can't image my life without them in it.
Dillan got a Polaroid camera for Christmas and we had alot of fun with it. In case y'all can't tell, we LOVE pictures!
We always enjoy having lunch with my mom and sisters and their families on Christmas Day. We sure miss our daddy alot, but I have to say that it gets a little easier over time. It's just the new normal, I guess. So thankful to still have our mom and hope we do for many, many years to come.
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| the Futch girls with our mom |
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| Me and Dillan |
The day after Christmas was spent with Scott's family. We enjoyed lunch with all of them as well. In addition to other gifts, his parents also give us several gift cards each to enjoy and we always have so much fun hitting the after Christmas sales the next day. As a matter of fact, Scott, Dillan, and I shopped for about 7 hours that next day and also enjoyed a great meal at Outback before returning home. I realize how lucky I am that my guys love to shop with me. That's so rare, I know, and I count my blessings every time because we have so much fun together.
So today started the process of doing some purging and reorganizing. Taking down Christmas is a slow process for me. I like to leave the tree up til New Year's, but I work on getting other rooms in the house back to normal.
In the middle of all of that today, I also worked on setting up a coffee bar in my kitchen. I can't wait to show you how it's turning out, so be checking Instagram for updates. Until then..........Labels: special occasions
