Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We had a white Christmas this year. It was a low-key Christmas, but it will be memorable. The snow started falling just as we were leaving for the Christmas Eve service at our church. We thought we were being smart by taking Tommy's car (which has AWD, my minivan did not), but the smarter decision would have been to stay home.

The Christmas Eve service was lovely, as usual. But, then we walked out of church and realized what had happened. Snow had fallen... hard. The church parking lot was a mess - cars were having trouble entering and existing. Then, we got a text from some friends/neighbors, telling us that the hill at the entrance to our neighborhood was impassable. Cars that had tried to go up/down the hill and skidded/crashed and people had abandoned their cars in the middle of the road. Our friends had parked their car at the bottom of the hill and were hiking home (and they have a 7th grade daughter who is in a cast!). A few minutes later, we got another text from the same friends telling us that the back entrance to our neighborhood was closed due to an injury accident - there were emergency vehicles blocking the entrance. So, we deduced that we were screwed. Ha!

We parked Tommy's car at the bottom of the hill, just like ~30 other cars did, and started hiking home. It was really quite fun. There were lots of people hiking with us, some with shopping bags full of presents and some carrying food for their Christmas Eve parties. We witnessed an SUV trying to drive down the hill lose control and crash into another car... thank goodness Tommy had our kids move over to the sidewalk or they could have been hit!

Christmas Eve Service

Starting our hike home...

Cars over hedges!

Trying to capture the people walking up the hill.

Still hiking, but at least we are in our neighborhood now.

We made it!

When we got home, it was 7:30, much later than we thought we'd be getting home. We had planned on grilling steaks with Tommy's parents, but we had already called them and told them to stay put. So, I made grilled cheese and tomato soup for the kids. We read "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and played a little game. They left cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa, and headed to bed about 9:00. Then, Tommy and I made a little charcuterie plate of cheeses, salami, nuts, and fruit (paired with wine!) and snuggled on the couch for a bit.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

 It was not the Christmas Eve we had planned, but I am quite sure we'll look back on it and smile at the memory.

The kids slept in a bit on Christmas morning (a miracle!) but were super anxious to go downstairs and see all that Santa brought them. Taylor quickly burst into tears when she realized Santa did not bring her a puppy (insert mom's eye roll here), so we switched gears and immediately gave the three kids a note with pictures of the puppy we hope to get in the spring. Phew. Okay, so Taylor's frown turned upside down and Christmas was a success from there on out. Taylor got a double stroller for her American Girl dolls from Santa, Matty received a PlayStation 4, and Brayden received a Marble Run Extreme (he already has two other Marble Run sets) and a saucer sled. Santa also brought each of them, and mom and dad, a game for the PS4.

Christmas Morning = Magical

Santa came!

Walking in to check out their loot!

Look at Taylor - she is not happy that there was no puppy under the tree.

Daddy revealing what is coming in the spring of 2018!

Our future puppy - a cockapoo! Can you see Matty's excitement?

Opening a gift from Brayden - he brought this home after an afternoon at Grandma's and showed it to me daily throughout December. It was a hand-made ornament. :)

Love this guy!

We had a lazy morning and then slowly got showered and ready to go to Grandma and Pop Pop's house. Tommy hiked down to the bottom of the hill and was able to get his car home through the back entrance (which had reopened). We loaded his car and headed to Mercer Island around 3:00. The kids were super excited to see their grandparents, especially since they missed seeing them on Christmas Eve. Tom and Tommy went to pick up Gigi (who is 94.5 now!) and we had a nice Christmas at the Blighs. We were showered with more gifts, we ate dinner, and we spent the night.

Hugs to Pop Pop after opening gifts

This is Grandma Bligh. She will be 95 in April. She is legally blind and deaf, but she is a trooper! I wanted to capture pictures of her this Christmas because we never know if it is her last...

Special hugs from Matty

and Taylor

and Brayden

 It was time to take Grandma home.

 The following day, we stayed in our jammies until mid-afternoon, eating, drinking coffee, and working on a puzzle. It was relaxing and perfect.

Overall, it was a nice Christmas. Lower key than usual with less guests, but fun nonetheless. Now if only all of these presents and decorations would go away on their own...