All I Want For Christmas...

...is for it to last all year long! I anxiously anticipate Christmas for 364 days and it comes and goes in a whirlwind of activities, food, and family. My vacation began on the 19th with a small holiday party at school and a very generous gift from my students. On Tuesday we hosted a small dinner party for my family at the house complete with festive table scape! Alex did most of the cooking while I cleaned the house from top to bottom (including washing the hard wood floors!) and we ate a delicious meal of strawberry salad, ravioli soup, and homemade cookies for dessert.

On Christmas Eve we packed up the pups and went to my parents house around lunchtime. We attended the afternoon service at church and came back home to eat dinner- our traditional Shrimp and Pesto Pasta. Mom pulled out the Christmas memories book and we discovered that we've been eating this same exact meal every Christmas Eve for the last 14 years! Our Christmas morning breakfast has remained unchanged for the last 20 years- egg souffle, blueberry muffins with crumblies on top, and sausage. What can I say, we Nathans like our traditions! We ended the night by opening some gifts from the family and tucking the pups into bed. Linc and I slept at our own house that night and opened gifts from each other in the morning.

My amazing husband surprised me with a beautiful diamond necklace before church on Wednesday and I also got a new navigation system for my car, some beautiful clothes, and a great new perfume! Linc had already gotten his present early (the new car) but I managed to sneak in a new pair of Oakley sunglasses and a video game for him. We were also very fortunate to receive some great tennis clothes and accessories from my family and an assortment of Wilton Armetale serving pieces for the house. I have been a bit under the weather so after the excitement of presents and stockings I curled up and took a nap while the rest of the family played tennis. The Trottas came over for another traditional Christmas meal (10 years of the most delicious steak stuffed with spinach and peppers) and hours of card games. We finished the night with a long game of Catchphrase and headed back home to rest up.

Friday morning we drove out to the farm in the middle of some ridiculous traffic and finally arrived after lunch. We hung out and watched a movie because the weather was not cooperating and then ate a low country boil for dinner. Saturday the Nashs came over, including my nephew Ethan, and we opened gifts and played around the farm. Sherry took my friend Daniele and I for a tour of the pastures while the boys played a Gladiator-inspired game of paintball. We ended the trip with some sniper shooting and testing out some new guns in target practice.

Thankfully there is still another week left of vacation but I cannot believe how fast it all flies by. My goal for the remainder of the break is to paint my tv room...any volunteers?! I hope you and your family enjoyed a very relaxing Christmas and remembered to give thanks for all the blessings that this holiday season brings. Merry Christmas! I look forward to an exciting and fun filled next few days counting down to the new year!