December 26th - the saddest day of the year.

At the beginning of the month I made a goal that I would truly embrace the holiday season this year and love every moment of Christmas. I am happy to report that I succeeded with gusto! Christmas is wonderful and I can't believe I spent so many years of my life being such a Scrooge. The very first Christmas that Jonathan and I spent together he had said to me that "December 26th is the saddest day of the year because it means Christmas is over" up until this year I thought he was crazy. But now I agree 100%. It is so sad to see such a wonderful day come and go so quickly.

Here is a small recap of our wonderful Christmas celebrations. Both Christmas and Christmas Eve are very very busy for us. On Christmas Eve we go to three different parties. First we go to the Mullens. The Mullens have been Jonathan's neighbors since he was born. We stop there and visit with their family and spend some time with his bestfriend Katie. Then after a few hours of snacking and drinking there we head to his grandparents house where we take part in a HUGE Yankee Swap (28 this year) for all the adults and "big kids". Me and Jonathan left with the same gifts we came with, but it was still a score because we liked our gifts. 

Looks like a fun time to me - wine and Cranium!

 Then we headed over to my brother's girlfriend's family's house because they have a huge X-Mas Eve party every year. Unfortunately we didn't get there until 930ish and one brother was already asleep and the other was a little quite tipsy :). From there we went on home to find this: 

My cousin and her fiance were given a very important secretive job to do that night. They added their own fun twist to it. So an awesome new office chair isn't the only surprise Jonathan (and I for that matter) got on x-mas eve.

Christmas Day was fantastic. I woke Jonathan up at 8AM like a little kid, literally jumping on him in the bed and trying to shake him awake because I was SO excited to open my Christmas presents. I had every right to be excited since he got me a marvelous and thoughtful present: 

And this super cool pink jacket that has a built in book light!

 Then we went to his parents house for a Christmas morning breakfast and to open our presents. We got Google TV which so cool I can't even begin to explain it and Jonathan's mom gave me this gorgeous bracelet: 

She coined it as the "gift that keeps on giving" because now people need to buy me charms!

 From there we were off to Jonathan's grandparents to visit with all the kids and see them open their presents. We missed all the present opening, but the kids enjoyed the presents we bought for them. We hung out for a while and played with the kids and more importantly the kid's cool toys! Everyone also enjoyed all of my homemade treats! So glad I thought to be all cheery and make candy for all the amazing people in our lives :) 

Here is one example of the goodies I gave away. The fudge is hiding underneath.

We also stopped by and visited with my Grammy and Aunt Sandy for an hour or so. Some of my cousins were there as well so I got to see them too. My Grammy was very excited to see us, so I'm glad we made the trip over there too. I wish everyone would take the time to go and visit with her... The woman is amazing and deserves much more than some people give her.

Then we went home, set up or Google TV, played Epic Mickey, ate Chinese Food and relaxed! So I stand by what I said on Christmas - despite who you spend your holidays with - it's important to realize that the people who really matter are the people that will call and take the time to make the day special with you. I'm grateful for the wonderful people I have in my life.