Days 260-262: Merry Christmas!

We had a lovely weekend celebrating Christmas in North Carolina. On Christmas Eve, we went to Mom's house for Christmas around the world. Aunt Shannon was very tickled with her wrapping this year. Those would be Evan's gifts wrapped around the banister:

And Issa's were an elephant:

We ate all manner of things, the highlights of which being Welsh rarebit and stuffed dates. Brad was also thrilled to have his very first gluten-free puff pastry.

When we got home, the kids got ready for Santa. No milk this year:

We are now certain Evan knows, but the magic is still fun. We will keep going until they ask us to stop.

Christmas morning, the kids had strict instructions not to wake us until 6 and to have the coffee made. They did not disappoint:

Santa had been there, and Issa's coffee cake was warm and ready:

The stockings were filled:

Evan was most thrilled that Santa delivered his racing system:

It is pretty cool. He now has pedals, a wheel, and a gear shift to use with his racing games.

Issa was very excited by her airpod pros and cases:

The dogs got new giant balls:

And the cats got a whole assortment of hot cocoa toys:

We had a quiet morning, cooking and playing with new toys, before we got dressed for lunch:

Issa had made another beautiful tablescape:

Mom and Shannon joined us for a traditional Christmas meal:

We even flambéed a figgy pudding! We spent the rest of Christmas snuggled up watching White Christmas  (a classic) and Klaus (a new to us movie that will be a favorite).

The rest of the weekend we rested. We got to the bottom of the kitchen and found new homes for Christmas gifts. We watched The Prom, Wonder Woman,  and Soul. All were amazing! A weekend of rest was just what we needed...and a toast in our new mule mugs:

Today we are doing a 5k as part of a fundraiser for the dojo scholarship fund, and we have plans this week to work on some projects. There will also be plenty of time for rest and just being, and I couldn't be happier about that.