We woke up to a white Christmas for the first time in I don’t remember how long … potentially since my own childhood? Although it made more work for Brian to clear a path for me to crutch through and though Landon won’t remember it, I loved having that white blanket over our world. The woods we are nestled in aren’t pretty this time of year except for when we have fresh snow and ice crystallizing the trees.

This was Landon’s third Christmas and the first one he got truly excited about. His daycare provider threw a wonderful party for the kids before break and he exchanged presents, made Christmas decorations and other crafts, got to indulge in sweet treats and had a stellar time.

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We stayed home on Christmas Eve and enjoyed a quiet day and evening with just us. Brian made lamb and beef steaks and roasted broccoli, and of course we finished the evening with Christmas cookies and the annual reading of The Night Before Christmas (a tradition from my own childhood!) I felt teary reading it to my own child.

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Santa must have paid a visit during the night for we opened presents here on Christmas morning. Landon got a dinosaur lunch box, bed pillow, Melissa & Doug backpacking play set, and the Gruffalo book and stuffed Gruffalo. We spent many hikes last summer in search of the Gruffalo, which he learned about from a library book we took out last spring. He was thrilled to have his own book copy and an actual Gruffalo!

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We then transitioned to my parent’s house where we spent the remainder of the day with them, my brother and his family and aunts and uncles. We all felt and missed Nana this year; it was my first Christmas spent without her in my 36 years.

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The cousins had a marvelous time playing together and breaking in their new toys. (Legos, blocks, Play Dough, trucks, stomp rockets, tools, cooking play set!)

Several days later we got to spend the day with Brian’s stepsister, brother in law and their two great kids. Landon loved having his cousins over and showing them his house and his toys!