Our first Christmas celebration started off on Monday, December 20 with a dinner at Olive Garden. We met my Grandpa and my Aunt Robin's family there. It was wonderful to spend time with them because we rarely see them!
We had our little family Christmas on Christmas Eve morning. Olivia received just a few gifts from us but she was extremely excited about her baby stroller and apron. I thought the Elmo slippers would be a huge hit, but she doesn't like to wear them.
After Christmas Eve service in Champaign, we drove to Washington to my parents' house. We didn't get to their house until 10:00p.m. and I felt horrible! I love going to their house for Christmas Eve. We always have little appetizers, watch a Christmas movie, and then my dad reads Twas The Night Before Christmas to us. We thought Olivia would sleep on the way to Washington, but she decided to talk/laugh the entire way up! So, she was exhausted by 10:00 and went right to bed after he read the story.
I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. For some reason I couldn't sleep and I woke up at 5:30a.m. on Christmas morning! I took a shower and got ready before everyone else woke up. After everyone else got up, we ate breakfast and then started opening presents. My favorite gift was a Northface coat that I can wear when I'm on playground duty. Olivia received many great gifts but the shopping cart/food and tea set were her favorite gifts.
My parents and sisters were supposed to come over on December 23 to make Christmas cookies with us. I ended up getting the flu and couldn't make cookies with them. They decided to come and watch Olivia for me that day. I made Jeremiah sanitize everything before he left for work and I stayed away from them. I did not want my family to catch the flu. On Christmas morning, my dad woke up with a horrible stomach ache and felt sick. He started opening gifts with us and then went into his bedroom to sleep the rest of the day. I felt horrible! My dad LOVES Christmas. He starts talking about Christmas right after Thanskgiving and can't wait for the day to come. So, obviously, I felt like I ruined Christmas. It was still fun to hang out with my sisters and mom, but it wasn't the same without my dad. Since we didn't make cookies on the 23, we decided to make them on Christmas. Olivia had a blast rolling the dough and cutting cookies with us. All of us girls (and Jeremiah iced a few too) decorated the cookies while Olivia slept. After she woke up, we headed to Decatur for our next family Christmas.
Jeremiah's entire family was at his parents' house when we got there. It is always crazy because there are so many people, but we enjoy being with everyone! We started opening presents right away and Olivia decided to cuddle up with Uncle John and Aunt Kate. She sat with them the entire (2 hours) that we opened gifts! She loved watching everyone open gifts. Olivia received her Little Mermaid dolls and a cute bear. After opening gifts we played games and ate food the rest of the evening.
The next day we woke up and went to Jeremiah's parents' church. After that we had lunch and then just played all day long. Olivia absolutely adores her cousins and especially Gabe. I love that she is old enough to play with her cousins. It's always fun hanging with Jeremiah's entire family. We don't do it often enough.
I am so thankful that we are able to be with our families around Christmas. They are all such wonderful blessings to us!
