Here’s the recap of the 2022 Christmas holiday – full of hallelujah!
I miss you all!
I think this might be the record for most days without blogging in over 15 years! I’ve had the urge to “show up with a bunch of pics” a few times, but I had to remind myself why I planned to take a break:
I’m relaxed and ready to rock 2023!!
I’ve been working a bit on my new health program which is tentatively called Homecoming. I can’t wait to share more! (Be the first to hear more by continuing This regulation!) I also did some quests about Beautycounter Winter Sale (Deals up to 65% off expire in 2 days!)
Later this week, I’m sharing my public post and also the non-alcoholic wine/beer giant.
I feel like sharing holiday content this week is a bit outdated, but if you’re curious how we spent our two weeks of vacation, here we go! I have a ton (46 to be exact) of photos to share and will comment on them for brevity 🙂
Rest Week 1: All the festivities
ornament opening
Gingerbread man decorating
Hot cocoa and books with Mazen’s class
Holly Jolly Cart Ride in Downtown Mall!
UVA Bball with Thomas
Uncle John’s Homemade Chicken
Watching the World Cup
Jimmy Thomas’ Famous Some Molasses Oven Cookies
Thomas made it popular in our family. Best birthday cake ever!
Cousin gifts + games
Christmas Happy Hour at Acac + Bar Hope
Washing the dishes, what?
Christmas 2022
We celebrated Christmas Eve at Thomas’s parents’ house with pizza and Christmas presents!
Nothing like an appetizer spread without!
There was also the massive Jenga game
Snacks for Santa
(And a hungry dog!)
Santa’s guard dog
Birch opened this knight’s costume and said, “I don’t like it.” And then he didn’t take it off all week! Silly kids.
Mazen got an iPhone!!
was amazed. The phone was actually free to us with a new line, so that was a huge win.
iPhone rules
Lest you think it doesn’t come with any rules, there were two pages in our official contract. You can view the download contract as a Word document here (I found one online and edited it to suit us.)
Christmas dinner at Hillsborough
After the presents were unwrapped, the house tidy, and the car packed, we drove to Hillsboro to spend Christmas with the Youngers.
Cousin’s table!
Notice that all Birch ate for dinner was a piece of cornbread and candy. *eye roll*
Adults ate ham, asparagus, sweet potatoes, fruit salad, and rolls.
Ice cream pancakes for dessert
Almost bedtime
These guys don’t want to sleep. Birch and Avery slept together in the bonus room and talked about sleeping together. It was so nice!
They also played strong for two consecutive days.
It was too cold to leave the house!
Indoor activities
We played “indoor pool” in Grammy’s bathroom.
Afternoon parents out
Mum and Dad offered to babysit while we went to Durham for dinner in the afternoon/early. We just had to go back to bedtime so everyone could fall asleep.
We went to the coffee shop first to warm up with conversation.
Stop 2: Glass beer brewery
Then we went to the brewery for more conversation!
Accounting Office
Finally we had dinner at 5:00 Accounting Office! It was incredible.
We enjoyed every minute of our short trip. Birch cried for his cousins and more Christmas when we got home.
Other highlights of the break
My cousin Crystal and her fiancé, Dan, came to visit!
They brought in their dogs, including a new puppy!
Who Birch fell in love with after they got to know each other <3
Blair sandwich plate for lunch
Dental visits
On his third visit, Birch didn’t cry and climbed into the chair!
Visits with friends <3
Fun rug shop
And very little computer time for everyone
I hope you all had a relaxing break (especially if you have young children at home) and are feeling healthy this January morning!
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