i've mentioned before that holidays can be hard for me ever since we moved to seattle (and losing my dad), but we had a really nice, enjoyable christmas this year. the kids got along, there was zero stress, and we just soaked up the cozy time together. i try to remind myself that everything in life is a phase. we had many years of big family christmases back in minnesota, now we are in a phase of quiet ones with just our immediate family in seattle, and 5-10 years from now, things will likely look totally different again.
sunday was christmas eve, which is always nice when it falls on a weekend because thatcher and i don't get that day off as a holiday. azalea and i decided to go to the ballard farmers market to get out for a bit. we stopped at venture coffee on the way to check out their new remodel and get cafe viennas. :) the market was hopping and it was fun to be there.
in the afternoon thatcher went for a walk and the rest of us watched a christmas movie, read, played video games, and relaxed. then we prepped our feast for dinner. we decided to do a bunch of appetizers, which was haven't done for a few years, but i love it. we made brats, meatballs, focaccia bread, veggies/dip, fruit, cheese/crackers, and shrimp cocktail. it was delicious.
and just like every christmas, for dessert we had leftover birthday cake as well as carmelita bars, and chocolate chip banana bread that our neighbor cory dropped off.
we ended the night watching a christmas movie on amazon prime. santa sure has to come a bit later now than when the kids were little:)
we told them 7:45 was the earliest we would all go down on christmas morning. azalea was awake well before that, but she waited.
santa brought them new pajamas, gloves, robux (currency for a video game they play) and some candy and trinkets in their stockings.
we zoomed with my mom and brother to open gifts from them. then we opened the rest of our family gifts with a break to facetime with anders, nith, and moss in prague.
the kids' big gift this year was an ipad (to share).
we made waffles, bacon, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast and it was delicious! the rest of the day we lounged around, watched home alone 2, read, played video games, and snacked. for dinner we made a new recipe, vietnamese lemongrass pork bowls, which also turned out really good. we ended the holiday with watching 'single all the way'.
it's always sad when another christmas has passed, but i know how quickly a year flies by at this stage of my life so it won't feel like long until we are here again! here's our 2023 holiday card:
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