We had a beautiful, relaxed Christmas this year... and also celebrated Rhode's 1st Christmas. We always spend Christmas Eve at home eating Chinese food take-out and watching Christmas movies which is our little tradition. We also always make a trip to Orangeville sometime before Christmas to see their lights display which we happened to do this Christmas Eve to add a little festivity to the night and a little wonder for the kiddos. They really loved it and it was well worth the drive down to add this to our festivities.

Christmas morning was spent at home opening gifts and enjoying our time together before we headed to Barrie for Christmas at my brother's home with my side of our family. It was also my niece Charlotte's 1st Christmas so the kiddos had lots of fun together and enjoyed the yummy turkey dinner prepared for us as well as their new gifts. My parents really enjoyed opening gifts with the three youngest grandchildren (they have 6!)

Boxing Day is the day we always spend with Scott's family, usually at our home, and we continued that tradition this year. It did look a little different this year as we were apart from his brother and sister-in-law and their kiddos as they moved to Nova Scotia this fall. It was weird not spending the holidays with them as that has always been our norm but we still had a great time facetiming them and Scott's brother Micah was able to visit this year which was a nice surprise.

I really love the holidays. As a Christian, Christmas is a very beautiful and miraculous time to commemorate the origins of our faith and we are full of joy to thank God for the ultimate gift of salvation that came through the birth of Jesus. I embrace all of Christmas - the religious holiday as well as the way that our society approaches Christmas. The lights. The food. The folklore. The spirit of giving. The movies. The carols. The decor. The sparkle. The candlelight. The wonder in children's eyes. All of it! I am not largely a fan of winter (why do I live in Ontario?) but Christmas is always a highlight of my year.

So we had a great Christmas... and are very grateful to close out a beautiful year with our family.

Merry Christmas to all! xoxo