06 Jan
Christmas. Location: Washington
Let’s go ahead and rewind back to December 19. Past the New Years Resolutions, that last glass of champagne, returning that hideous sweater for credit from Aunt Marge, and before you added on the dreaded 3 lbs of holiday weight gain.
We’ve surprised my mom, she’s dried her eyes, and deep in her heart already lies the hope that we will stay stranded in Washington to spend Christmas with her. She fights so hard to push that secret desire out of her mind, but it stays put, reaching all the way deep down to her toes. She works to smile as That Husband and Wife sit on the sofa together, laptops out, blackberry on, attempting to book a flight to Poland that won’t be leaving in the middle of the biggest snowstorm to hit Seattle in years.
Unfortunately for my family (but fortunately for his) we were succesful in the rescheduling. All we had to do was show up at the United ticket counter on Monday morning and have our ticket re-issued for Lufthansa. It was going to be a piece of cake.
To cheer That Mother up we decided to open presents! I really like opening presents so I dove right under.
Ohhh what’s under there…
A cookbook my ward at home assembled full of recipes of those who I grew up going to church with. Apparently the homemade marshmallows are to die for!
What could be in that pineapple covered box? I love boxes covered with pineapples, don’t you?
A fancy schmancy popcorn maker! That Husband doesn’t really like popcorn, but I love it. Sometimes I eat it nightly.
The last box was so small. You know how the best things come in small boxes?
A gorgeous pair of CZ’s from Nordstrom. Thanks Mom! I wear them every day. Someday I hope to get an upgrade like you did. And yes, I took them picture with them stuck in a cactus. That Husband really likes plants.
I gave my dad the usual, a 12 month photo calendar (filled with photos from the wedding, natch!) and I was finally able to reveal to my mom what I had been working on for her. Except… it’s not ready for me to show you yet. But soon!
On Sunday night we headed over a family friends house to give presents to their kids. It’s one of my favorite Christmas traditions because I forgot how thrilled each child is with what they receive.
We barely made it out of hte driveway. I haven’t seen so much snow in years. Good thing everyone in my hometown drives a truck or suburban.
I did my own rendition of “Singing in the Snow”.
I was so happy in my zebra wellies and my new pea coat.
Opening presents was madness. The littlest one got a pink purse with her initial on it.
The middlest one got some sort of boy thing which was so cool he couldn’t talk to us for several minutes.
My favorite gift went to the oldest. An American Girl series. I was obsessed with American Girl and read all of the books that came out during my pre-teen/teen years (I still wish I would have been lucky enough to get a doll to play with). Samantha was my favorite, but I always wanted to do my hair up in braids like Kirsten.
The night ended with me convincing the oldest one to jump into a big pile of snow!
The next morning we were off to Poland (well, we were going to try!)
I'm a farm-raised almost-crunchy stroller-pushing picture-taking lifestyle-blog-writing gastronomy-obsessed divine-seeking thrift-store-combing cheese-inhaling pavement-pounding laughter-sprinkling lover of individuality and taking chances.
Love the post. I’ve been looking for a good marshmallow recipe..do you care to share?????
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1I love the picture of the earrings in the cactus…too cute! Also love the popcorn maker…I begged and pleaded my fiance to let me add one to our registry!
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2Aw, you’re so cute on the couch with your laptops
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3Homemade marshmallows are great, but you wind up making so much. Luckily they seem to hold up really well.
I love giving kids presents, they get so excited and just can’t wait to tear into it all. It makes me feel even better when we visit them later and they pull out what you got them to play with.
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4You are too cute. Period. With Wellies! (hehehe)
My sister was really into American Dolls, too. She bought Kirsten and a whole bunch of her accesories. If I had gotten one, I would have gotten Felicity (the one from 1776 or something) because I thought her era was the coolest. But they were all pretty cute.
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5I love those wellies!
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6Love the cactus photo! You guys are too cute together!
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7I love the first picture, very cute.
And giving presents to kids. It’s so rewarding, it seems that no matter what you get them you score, they love it, they tear down the paper in joy and have excited screams. I adore it.
It looks like you had a good time and that’s what it’s all about.
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8I loved that my sisters and I all had an American Girl doll - we got so so many hours of fun out of them!
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9Not to ruin your picture, but this made me laugh- as I was scrolling down my husband saw the earrings and said “Does that cactus have eyes?” That’s totally what I see now:)
Also, I just moved to Utah and the snow is unstoppable, and my wellies conduct the cold of the snow to my poor feet. How do you keep yours warm? I bought fancy wool socks and still about froze my toes off.
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10“Samantha was my favorite, but I always wanted to do my hair up in braids like Kirsten.”
ohmygosh, me too! like, those were my EXACT thoughts as a little one!
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