The holiday's are always busy and full of events, family, friends and quality time! I won't lie; that comes with a lot of stress for people who spend most of their time at home and relaxing. Our overall life slowed way down after COVID and the holidays seem to speed it right back up. However, I am always excited for it all! We have a whole host of family traditions that I can't wait to share with a new baby one day.
Let's start with Thanksgiving. We have been hosting the Thanksgiving meal for our families for 6 or 7 years now. Colin definitely prefers Thanksgiving to Christmas and gets a lot of joy out of cooking the best ever turkey each year. He spends lots of time researching recipes, techniques and new flavors to try. There is just something about serving and feeding those I love that fills my heart - right along with my belly. This year was extra special because we were able to open our home to some very important friends in our lives. We had so many people we had to set up in our back "bonus" room.
After dinner, we watched the Cowboys game, took naps and the kids sang some karaoke. Colin and I started a Thanksgiving night tradition a few years ago by capping off the busy day with a glass of wine on the couch and watching Colin's favorite holiday movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas". It's the perfect transition movie from fall to Christmas and it's always fun to hear Colin sing all the songs!
The Christmas season extends well before the actual week of Christmas and starts with some fun events in our community downtown square. All the local small businesses host a "Sip & Stroll: Holiday Edition." We were joined this year by some friends and spent a fun evening; shopping, eating and walking around downtown.
The week of Christmas always starts with the Mitchell girls annual baking day at my mom's house. We spend no less than 7 hours baking all the cookies. We then pass these out to friends, neighbors and bring them to all of the holiday events to come that week. My nephew is old enough to start enjoying baking day and helped us with the rice krispie treats this year. We also host an annual friends Christmas event, where we watch our favorite Christmas sitcom episodes. The top of the list is always the "No-Ho-Ho" episode from the show Happy Endings.
This year was extra special because Colin's middle brother, Charlie, came into town with his entire family and we spent two days with the whole family together. We ate, played games, went on a Christmas light walk, visited the Dallas Arboretum Holiday display, and exchanged gifts with the kiddos.
December 23rd is our Christmas "date"day, where we get to spend some quality 1 on 1 time together. This year, we treated ourselves to a spa day, pizza to go and a movie at home. This day seems to always include pizza of some kind but the activity changes each year. This day is so important for us to connect with one another during an otherwise hectic time of year.
Christmas Eve is always spent at my moms house and the traditions have continued from my childhood through adulthood. Prior to going over there, we had lunch with my dad and his wife who had come in town for the holiday. Then we had dinner - always Mexican food - at my moms with family and friends who are like family. The dogs are always included in family gatherings. This year, there were SEVEN dogs. We always do a gift exchange and play holiday games. Then, when Santa is on his way, everyone goes back to their home to wait for Christmas morning!
Christmas Day is spent at home with just ourselves. We traditionally cook a prime rib and delicious sides and eat any leftover Christmas cookies. This year, our dear friends, got stranded in Dallas when their flight home to Seattle was cancelled. So they joined us for our feast. We did puzzles, ate, drank and had a very Merry time.
These holidays are so special and we cannot wait to see the holiday magic through the eyes of our future child. With love, Christina
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