our christmas 2024 week

 last monday was christmas eve eve! i think thanksgiving weekend and christmas eve eve are two of my favorite times of the holiday season because you are still looking forward to everything. this christmas season felt shorter than ever. ashford's friend sebastian's mom invited a big group of boys and and moms to go to 'kringle's filling station' which is a holiday activity near us. we had never been to it before. it had hot chocolate pumped from an old gas pump (not as gross as it sounds - ha!), photo ops, skee ball, karoake, santa, etc. we all had a lot of fun.

after that we headed to dani and sebastian's house for drinks, appetizers, pizza, and white elephant for the boys. it was a really fun night and i'm so thankful for this group of moms i've gotten to know from our kids becoming friends. 

azalea spent the afternoon at thatcher's work. it's a little tradition they started years ago during the break. they had lunch together and she hung out while he worked and then they bused home together. 

tuesday was christmas eve. thatcher worked (so did i), but he worked from home so he could multi-task ;) i actually escaped to the gym in the morning because i hadn't gone in almost two weeks. azalea wasn't feeling great, i think she picked up whatever ashford and i had the week before. the kids and i watched 'christmas vacation' in the afternoon and we prepped our bbq feast for dinner: ribs, pulled pork, beechers mac n cheese, and roasted potatoes/carrots. the house felt so cozy for christmas eve. 

we facetimed with my mom and brother and extended family in minnesota as well as thatcher's parents and jack who were spending the holiday together. after dinner and dessert, we headed out to walk around olympic manor to look at the lights. we had been meaning to go all season and thankfully it was dry that night. i want to remember what ashford said because sometimes he can be a stick in the mud when we go out and do things. he said to me "i'm really enjoying this, aren't you?" it makes all the stress of christmas worth it. 

we ended the night watching 'jingle jangle: a christmas journey' and sent the kids to bed so santa could come :) 

we agreed on 8am as the wake up time for christmas day. perks of having big kids :) they came down to see their santa treasures. 

santa had a sense of humor and left this in my stocking. he also brought this beautiful christmas blanket that i'm obsessed with. 

i realized i have a thing for christmas patterns in general

thatcher got started on our breakfast and we zoomed with my mom and brother to open their gifts. then we ate our french toast and bacon. yum. next was more gift opening...

azalea got an apple pencil (for the ipad), good quality markers and a sketchbook, clothes, and a couple giftcards. 

ashford got a big lego set, a baby sloth stuffie, clothes, and some giftcards. my big gift from thatcher was a 'nespresso' espresso machine. i've been envious of vanessa's for years and now i have my own, which is exciting. 

the rest of the day was spent relaxing at home, with the exception of thatcher going on a walk for a couple hours. i watched 'the holiday' and read my book, the kids were on screens for a lot of the day. it was nice. for dinner we made spaghetti, which is a common dinner for us but i made it "special" by getting garlic bread from the qfc bakery. we ended the night with a new animated movie on netflix called 'that christmas.' it was a good day, and my heart was full despite the distance between us and our families. 

thursday thatcher worked from home again and the kids and i spent the day at home for the most part. azalea had been trying to kick her sickness all week. 

friday thatcher went to work and we started to get ready for our 3-night cabin stay near mount rainier. we did some packing and i took the kids to fred meyer and the library. otherwise it was another lazy day at home. 

i'm gonna end this right here, so i can do a separate post about the cabin and new years. hope you had a good holiday!