It snowed lightly on Christmas Eve morning and was very picturesque. It added a bit to the snow already on the ground for our first white Christmas in this area of Massachusetts in 15 years!
Sam and I went to my mom's house for Christmas brunch, presents, and games. It was fun, and we were over there for awhile. I have no pictures to show for it except for this one that my sister sent me!
These were some of the presents I got, and I really like all of them: a "vintage owls" desk calendar from Jennifer that I had the perfect spot for (on my desk 😄), the cutest owl mug from my nephew Shane, and a framed wedding picture from Nate and Kat.
This was the first I'd seen of this picture! It came out a lot better than I thought it would with the wind whipping around us!
My mom came over in the evening for dinner with me and Sam and spent the night. We had our traditional pot roast Christmas Eve dinner with sparkling cider.
After dinner, we read the nativity story from the scriptures, Sam opened a present, and we watched Elf together. Later that evening, I continued with my tradition of watching It's a Wonderful Life! Next time I might switch it up for something else, though. We'll see!
And after Sam (and my mom 😁) went to bed, I played Santa and put all of the presents under the tree and filled the stockings (with care, no less!).
Christmas Eve is definitely the most magical night of the year!
Christmas morning was bright and sunny. We opened presents (and Sam actually liked everything I got him! A Christmas miracle!), and then we enjoyed our traditional Christmas breakfast of bacon, cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, orange juice, and egg nog.
Our white Christmas!
Here's Sam wearing the new hoodie, flannel pants, and fleece-lined Crocs I got for him.
And here are the gifts I got for me! (Someone's gotta do it!) I got myself a nice new navy blue quilted leather binder for my Franklin Planner, a new pair of slippers (and they are wonderful!), a candle warmer lamp that I'd been hearing about (it works well!), and a few other little things.
My mom got me the coolest Nancy Drew quilt that is going to get its own post later this week.
I missed John a lot (and Violet too), but at least I've got Sam, faux middle finger and all. 😆
This picture is blurry. Thanks Mom! 😉
After I drove Sam over to his dad's house and my mom went home, and I spent most of the rest of the day doing my favorite thing to do on Christmas—read for hours on end! I hardly ever do that, and it truly is a gift! I look forward to my day of reading every Christmas.
A pretty healthy snack of strawberries, clementines, and dark chocolate orange slices. (I love a good chocolate orange (or two) at Christmastime!)
I read part of Hercule Poirot's Christmas and all of The True Gift (which was short, sweet, and very good).
And I read most of this book, which I thought would be fun because part of it is set during a big Iowa blizzard, and I like devouring a good mystery thriller on Christmas, but it was more grisly and somber than I thought it would be. It wasn't bad, but definitely not the most festive pick!
My phone screen that evening: the dishscape streaming from YouTube and a simple and beautiful message from the Church about how Jesus Christ is the true light of the world. He is everything, and I love Him forever.
My view from the other end of the couch so that I could see the tree as I read.
It was a great Christmas!
