We decided during the summer that Will and I would host my mom and brothers at our house for Christmas this year. They haven't been down since we moved into our house almost two years ago, so we all felt like it was their turn to make the 11-hour drive down here.
We put up our Christmas decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving since we knew the three-week sprint between Thanksgiving and Christmas would leave hardly any time for us to do it.
We splurged on a new beautiful 9-foot tree this year, since the 6-foot hand-me-down from my mom wasn't quite cutting it. We used all the same ornaments we had, but I added a few gold and brown bulbs, the red sprigs of berries, and the burlap garland. And yes, our pathetic star looked like that the entire season. Womp womp.
Cozy blanket from Homegoods.
Next year there will be three stockings hanging!
We moved the bookshelves from where they normally stand to by the back doors to make room for the tree.
I had put all the extra bulbs in a basket by the small tree in the dining room. One day I came home from work after we left the dogs in the house for the day to find the basket overturned and bulbs all over the room. Lucy wanted me to know that she had nothing to do with that.
While I always knew in the back of my mind that we were hosting Christmas for my family and Christmas dinner for them plus five other people, it didn't really hit me that we were *hosting* people in our house until about Sunday before my family arrived on Monday. I was still sick at that point, so Will had to do most of the getting our house ready. I was originally supposed to fly to Amarillo first thing Monday morning and then drive back down with my mom and brothers, but I didn't think I would be able to get through the car ride considering how badly my back had been hurting. Three cheers for my mom, who got the call Sunday evening that she would be driving the whole thing herself.
Will came home from work early on Christmas Eve, saying I had gotten him sick. Poor guy battled through the worst of it that day and the next, taking just enough Dayquill to get him through the big parts of opening presents and later having everyone over for lunch. Otherwise he slept a lot, as you'll see in the pictures.
Also, I got to use my new camera lense for the following pictures. I LOVE it with all my heart; Will surprised me with it for Christmas after I used it on a friend's camera this summer in Honduras and I told him I wanted it before the baby gets here.
Will's friend from high school and his fiance just moved to Texas from Florida. Since they don't have any family down here, they joined us for the festivities.
Family.
Dawson and I enjoyed some craft time Christmas night. I had picked up some ornaments from Hobby Lobby before they came for us to decorate. He loved it!
Will slept while we painted...
We were sad to see my family pack up on the 26th, and for the first time in four months, our house is quiet again.
We have packed up all the Christmas decorations, but they're still stacked in the dining room, waiting for us to take them back out to the attic. Since both of us have been sick and we both really needed a break after a long, stressful semester, we have been taking the break really slowly and enjoying our time together and with friends. Normally we would be "we have to get this done now!" but we've been content to do a little and then watch a few episodes of Law & Order or Property Brothers while the rest waits. I am so enjoying this quiet time in our lives before we have to kick everything into high gear before the semester starts again, we find out the gender of the baby, and get started on the nursery.
What was your favorite part of the week?
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