(Belated) Re-cap: Christmas, New Year's, Rest of Break

So I realized I never did a post on Christmas and New Year's and the week of relaxation.

Oops.

Looks like I won't be getting to a lengthy one thanks to the chaos that is the current semester…so a compact version it is!

We got back from Punta Cana very very late on the 23rd. Randomly, we decided to give each other the Christmas gifts we'd bought. Husband actually bought mine (a fun kate spade cross body purse with a matching wallet I'd received for my birthday) this past summer so he was off the hook shopping-wise way back in July when I'd picked it out during a sample sale online. For him, I had to do some searching, but I ended up picking out this really cool computer stand to save his neck muscles. Since I'm notorious for being bad at picking out gifts for him without any sort of help or hint as to what he'd like, I was pleasantly surprised to find out he truly loved it! In addition to the stand, he also received a renewed Popular Science subscription good for the next two years. After exchanging our gifts, we spent another few hours unpacking, doing laundry, and re-packing for the next three days of holiday celebrations. I think we stayed up until 3 or 4am just getting everything together…and that was after a full day of traveling!

The 24th we headed to Husband's hometown to spend Christmas Eve with his dad. They ate lobster while I happily enjoyed some fettucine alfredo (there's something about those eyes and antennae that make me lose my appetite…that and the shell breaking and tearing into the insides of the crustacean…makes me almost become a vegetarian). We exchanged gifts, had good conversation, and just enjoyed each other's company for the evening. 

Late that night we drove to Husband's mom and stepdad's home. Once there, we did their traditional sibling exchange and opened gifts with Husband's younger brother, Travis. While Husband's older brother and wife had sent gifts from Maryland, we decided to wait to open those until the next day. 

Christmas day we woke up around 9:30am (it's nice not having kids quite yet so we can still sleep in!) and first took a look in our stockings (another tradition of Husband's family). After that, we ate a wonderful breakfast prepared by Husband's mom and then sat by the table to read the Christmas story out of the book of Luke. Once it was time to open presents under the tree, it was nearly 11am (again, it's nice not having kids yet and take things slowly!). I think it took us about two hours or so to get through everything! The rest of the day was spent cleaning up, making use of our new gifts (Husband received a really nice ping pong paddle from his mom and stepdad and then his mom received one as a surprise, too, so they played for HOURS that day on the table in the basement!). 

The morning of the 26th we drove with one of my three sisters and her family in their eight passenger van a couple hours up north to my mom's hometown to celebrate with the extended family on my mom's side at the church in which she grew up. We've been doing this for as long as I can remember, and as the family has grown, we've slowly moved from celebrating in my grandparents' house, to one of my aunt and uncle's house, to finally the church we've been celebrating in for the past few years. It's always so nice going there and seeing my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins and their kids that I usually don't get to see any other time of the year. We played BINGO with fun prizes, ate way too much good food, and just relaxed the whole day. 

On the 27th we celebrated at the church of one of my other sisters and her family with my side of the family. It was especially great since my oldest sister and her family, who live in Texas, were able to celebrate with us and that day we finally saw snow! Once again, we ate way too much good food, opened presents, and just enjoyed each other's company. 

For New Year's, we rang it in very relaxedly at the home of some of our good friends from church. We kept it low-key with pizza and a movie and good conversation. We didn't even watch the ball drop since they don't have cable so we nearly missed midnight! Luckily we managed to catch the time change on the clock on the wall so Husband and I started off the the new year with a kiss :) 

The last week of break was spent doing nothing in particular in the comfort of our own home. We slept in a lot, watched some movies and television shows together, I worked on the quilt I've been sewing for Husband since this summer (and no, I still haven't finished it…!!!) and did some cooking and prepared freezer meals for the semester, and Husband relished in his free time with video games and pleasure reading. 

Needless to say, it was quite the bummer to get back to reality and head back to school!