Christmas 2022

Like Thanksgiving, Christmas was also a little bit different this year.  It fell on a Sunday which was lovely but that meant that we would just be getting up and going to church.  So - as a result my mom didn't sleep over.  There has only been one single time in all my 46 years that my mom hasn't spent Christmas with me.  She decided to sleep at her house and come up after we were home from church.  So on Christmas morning, we got up, Molly looked in the stocking and then we went to church.  Jackson and Sidney went to church with us.  We got home from church around 10:30.  We called grandma Gloria to come up.  Waited for her to get there, then we started opening up gifts around 11:00am.

Molly was D Y I N G to open them and waiting was about to kill her, haha!  We only got a few opened when Jens and Alexandra made it to our house from their church.  We all just took turns opening up or gifts.  Then Cade's girlfriend Halle came with more gifts in tow.  She sat down and got in on the action.  She passed out her gifts to me, Jeff, Alex, Sidney & Molly.  We all had gifts for her too.  Grandma Julie eventually made her way to our house and watched us finish opening them all.  We finally got to "breakfast" about 1:00pm!  Cade was able to call us on FaceTime and watch us open and talk to everyone.  We spent a good amount of time on the phone with him.  Everyone got to have a visit with him.  He's currently serving in Lancaster, NY, near Buffalo and the Great Lakes.  He has had crazy weather this winter because of the lake effect.  They were snowed in on Christmas and for the days leading up to it.  The governor had issued a "no travel" ban for any vehicle that was not emergency personal.  They got a lot of snow (not as much ass the last storm a couple weeks ago when they got 6 FEET.  But they still got plenty. The wind was the biggest issue causing 5 foot snow drifts.) They had around 30 people die because of the storm.  I'm glad he was safe at home.  He had a good Christmas too!  The only downfall was that Halle's gift didn't arrive to him until after Christmas because of the "no travel" ban.

This year we gave the kids a Mexican Riviera cruise!  So to go along with that, they got luggage and swimsuits.

Cade sent home this delightful hat for Jeffy!  It's hilarious but actually really nice at the same time!  It's warm and folds down over your ears if you need it to.  Ironically enough, my grandpa Hartvigsen had the same hat so I actually love it!  He sent me two ornaments for the travel tree.  One is actually for Cade and the other is for me to keep.  A member in their area cut a replica out of wood, of the layout of one of the lakes in his area.  Then she painted one of them gold and the other one red.

YEARS ago when Molly was little, she always wanted the American Girl doll Molly McIntire.  Molly was taken out of production after decades of being sold.  We were so sad!  She was brought back in to production this year and I bought her so fast your head would spin!!!  She sat here patiently waiting for Christmas day to arrive.  I was super excited to give Molly her new "Molly" doll!

Millie even got in on the action!  Connie gave her one of her FAVORITE balls and some treats.  Then we gave her a new Eddie Bauer coat that is purple and a couple gingerbread squeaky toys.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was kind of quiet compared to our normal "house full".  It was the "off year" for Sidney and Jackson.  Jensy and Alexandra usually spend Christmas eve with her family, and we are missing Cade.  I'm so glad we had friends and family come by for a visit and some food.  My normal spread wasn't near as pretty without the help of Sidney.  She is so good at setting it all out.  But everyone had fun visiting anyway.  Then we got a bonus call from Cade!  He got to say "hi" to lots of cousins and grandma's.  It was so nice to see his face and hear his voice.  I had ran to the cemetery earlier before the party to put candles out on everyone's graves.  Then we went back by after everyone had left the party to see the cemetery all lit up.  It always looks so pretty.

Grandma Julie's Party

Grandma Julie had her annual Christmas party and it was so fun as usual.  We had dinner, then we did the Nativity downstairs.  Julie had spent a lot of time creating a really neat backdrop for it too!  She had the Inn all created with a hanging backdrop and some cardboard buildings that she made.  It looked really good and all the kids looked great in their costumes.  Then as a surprise bonus that I didn't know about, Cade and Gunner had both made Christmas videos to send to us to be watched this night.  We listened to them after the nativity.  It made us all so happy!  Then we each opened up our gifts to each other, our gifts from grandma and then we played the game Left Center Right.  We had $140 in the pot... It came down to just two players: Jens and Chase's girlfriend Kylie Carrick.  Kylie got a lucky roll and ended up winning the whole thing!  It was a fun night.  I love my family!