(His and) Her Christmas Celebrations

When my sister and I were kids, our grandparents and aunt came over to our house for Christmas and we had one big celebration that lasted the entire day. It was simple in the sense that we did everything that day and everyone was together.

Now that I am an adult, Christmas gets a little more stretched out because of friends and family who have their own travels and traditions. Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining. I liked my childhood Christmases being simple and I like my adult Christmases being more complex. 

Complex is a very good word to describe our Christmas last year - we had four celebrations. I blogged about it here - check it out! This year has been similar, but with even more Christmas celebrations. Here's how we have celebrated so far and how we will continue to celebrate...

1. Dinner with friends, Alisha and Jesse...we ate good Italian food and exchanged gifts. 

2. Lunch with friends, Jon, Jill, and their daughter, Emily...we ate great Mexican food and exchanged gifts.

3. Dinner with Zach and Kristin...we ate delicious German food and exchanged gifts.

***Side note - I did not notice until just now how international our holiday was this year -  Italian, Mexican, and German food - yummy and eclectic! :) ***

4. Christmas Eve with my parents - we went to church with them because they have grown to love their church this year and then we headed back to our house. Sean and I made a stuffed pork roast with potatoes and green beans. Cookies and cupcakes were our dessert. We watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special and the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

Our Christmas Eve portrait

5. Christmas Day with my parents - we headed over to my parents house in the morning. I baked the Overnight French Toast which was DELICIOUS! I am going to be making that again soon. We opened gifts and Sean and I were sufficiently spoiled. After the gifts were opened, we spent some time playing with our new toys. Dinner was perfect as usual - my mom is an amazing cook. I knit a little to help digest the food and then we had dessert. The Ho Ho Cake I made from Brown Eyed Baker was a hit again this year.

Overnight French Toast - soooo good!!

The Christmas dinner spread

Brown Eyed Baker's Ho Ho Cake

Christmases to Come...

6. Dinner with Ronda...we are going to eat at Panera and exchange gifts.

7. A few days in South Carolina with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece...we are headed down there next week. We will exchange gifts and have some time to hang out.

Wow! Seven different celebrations...I have said it before and I will say it again - this really is the most wonderful time of the year! All the time spent with friends and family, watching them open the gifts we have found or made - perfection! I am so glad that just because Christmas Day is over that we are not done celebrating.

How do you celebrate Christmas? Is it as spread out as our celebrations are this year?

Happy Celebrating,