Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas, despite all of the stress leading up to it. It was a little hard to get in the Christmas cheer as a result, but come Christmas Eve, I was so excited for Autumn. Each year she gets older, the more excited she gets and the more fun we have putting it on!

Since moving home to Virginia, I am no longer responsible for Thanksgiving dinner. To compensate (really, I just want the opportunity to eat all the turkey skin, unopposed) I have started a new tradition of having my parents over for dinner Christmas Eve. Otherwise, all my Dad would be getting for dinner are sandwiches... So, despite feeling tired and under the weather, I ended up with a very yummy meal!

Fresh turkey breast. Fresh, and breast, because we had to buy in on Christmas Eve and it was all that was left!

My famous cranberry sauce.

It's all about multi-tasking! We had turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing (also my special recipe, Stove Top), corn, potatoes, gravy, and yummy rolls! After cooking Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner for the past 6 years, I have it down to a science!
My Dad falling asleep on the couch following dinner was a "job well done" for me!
There was a lot to be done Christmas Eve after my parents left. Autumn was very "unwrap" happy this year with all of my siblings gifts at Thanksgiving, so there were no presents under the tree prior to her bedtime on Christmas Eve. There was lots of wrapping to be done! Before bed however, it was a very picturesque scene for the morning:


For some reason, Autumn slept horrible Christmas Eve. She was up constantly and even when we tried to bring her into bed (which is awful and uncomfortable) she just stayed awake, looking around. We woke up at 8:30, when Adam and I finally felt somewhat rested... It was a rough night. I like to pretend it was because she knew tomorrow was Christmas... it makes me feel better any way.

Since we had already bought our "big" present at Thanksgiving (the TV) it was a humble Christmas. That didn't mean I wasn't spoiled by my sweet husband! For Autumn, it was very minimal. Just her new chalkboard and fun goodies in her stocking. Once she saw the chocolates it was all over anyway, whether she had 2 gifts or 50!

Adam "was a total sucker" <--- his words, and bought Bert for Autumn to match her Ernie!


Christmas smiles!

I couldn't get the wrappers off the peanut butter cups fast enough. She is now a master candy opener and went through all 3 of our chocolate candy canes before dinner.


Good hugs =)
Though it is not pictured, the highlight of my Christmas morning was definitely my new computer! Adam was so excited about it - it was really cute. Even before my computer meltdown of 2011, Adam had been working on upgrading my system. He really went above and beyond. He got me the best of the best and I can't wait to work on it! For now - just blogging =)

The fatigue and chocolate, taking effect.
Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, so after opening presents it was time to eat and get dressed in our Sunday best. As you can see above, Autumn slept in her curlers so that her hair would be picture perfect!




Autumn didn't even make it through Sacrament; she fell asleep on my mom's lap, which is very uncharacteristic of her. We headed home after just an hour of church (shortened, because of the holiday) and put Autumn to bed and I may or may not have taken a nap myself! Once we woke, it was off to Nana and Grandpas to open presents with them and my sister's family!

One of the other reasons we didn't get Autumn much was because we knew she would be spoiled by family - and she was! She immediately walked back to the tree and spotted her pile of toys and played with them right away!




Once again, my parents totally spoiled us! We were most excited about our new waffle iron (ours had incurred the wrath of Autumn this past year) and I was especially excited about my new Shark hand vacuum!

The family and boys, exhausted from dinner and the rush of Christmas!

It was a great day. We were all exhausted and crashed hard and enjoyed sleeping in the next day!

2 comments

  1. Looks like a great Christmas! Autumn looks adorable all dressed up for church!

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  2. Can I have your cranberry sauce recipe?

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