Our Beautiful Family: Christmas

Thursday, January 8, 2026

Christmas

We had a wonderfully relaxing Christmas break and a truly enjoyable Christmas holiday. The decorating, the shopping, the performances, the festivities, the baking, the cards all led up to a wonderful holiday full of family and fun.

Our Christmas traditions don't change much year to year. We told the kids they couldn't wake us up until 8:00 on Christmas morning. So, at 8:00, Briggs and Adelie were in our room, ready to go. We read the Christmas story from Briggs' storybook Bible and then headed downstairs. The obligatory Christmas morning picture in front of the tree is now quick and painless.

We always start with stockings. New socks, loofahs, candy, and fun things like tiny Vaseline are always exciting. Adding in stocking stuffers from Sephora doesn't add to the bulk of the stocking, but definitely levels up the spending game.

I love how the kids buy thoughtful gifts for each other with their allowance money. Adelie bought Briggs a small Lego Star Wars set while Staley got him a Zelda figurine. Briggs bought Adelie a lotion and Staley a body spray from Bath and Body works. Adelie gave Staley a funny 'sisters' mug while Staley gave Adelie a make-up bag filled with tiny things...which was right up Adelie's alley. So much thought went into each gift they gave each other.

They all went in together to get Zach this shirt.

We gave the kids some clothes and family games and they each got something they most wanted. Briggs got this Harry Potter Lego set.

The girls got Uggs, as well as tickets to go see the musical 'Hamilton' in Chicago.

After present opening, 4/5 of us went on a festive Christmas morning run (while family member #5 built his new Legos) before coming back for Christmas brunch. We then enjoyed a relaxing early afternoon and then headed over to my parent's house for Christmas dinner with them and Uncle Ethan followed by some game playing and watching a Christmas movie. It was a great day!!