christmas memories

I have been meaning to write a re-cap of our family Christmas festivities but morning sickness has gotten in the way and migraines made it hard to look at the computer screen for long. So, two weeks later here it is. Actually, I feel like our holidays just ended last week because we had family staying with us until the 3^rd. So really this is only a week overdue.

The party started on the 23^rd when Phil started vacation and we hosted a dinner to celebrate his dad’s birthday. This is when we let Liam make the “big announcement” to the family. “There’s a baby in mommy’s tummy!”, he exclaimed as we were setting the table. It was fun for him to be a part of that.

On Christmas eve we celebrated with my side of the family for a “Christmas Sweater Brunch and White Elephant gifts.” That evening we went to our church service and then had a quiet dinner at home of the traditional Christmas Eve fondue (which we forgot to purchase until 8pm on Christmas Eve and had to go to 5 stores to find).

Our Christmas finery

Christmas mornings are always very relaxing at our house. We have made it a tradition to sleep in as long as possible, then build a fire and make hot chocolate as we leisurely open our stockings and gifts to each other. Liam is at a great age right now where he is old enough to be excited about Christmas, but still not greedy. He is so thrilled with each gift that he would rather play with it for an hour before moving on the next one, which is just fine by me. It took hours to open just a few gifts but it was nice to see how much he enjoyed them, and how excited he was for us to open his gifts to us.

Traditional photo before opening gifts

One funny thing happened when he opened his stocking. I had put a wooden train whistle in there (because I knew he would be getting a train set later). It was all wrapped up so it just looked like a rectangle and I know he had never seen it before, but as soon as he pulled it out he said, “Ooh, whistle, you blow it” and put the wrapped gift to his lips and began making whistle noises. Puzzled, Phil and I looked at each other and asked him, “how do you know what’s inside?” He answered, “That guy told me.” (“That guy” is what he has been calling Santa Clause) Phil and I are still totally confused by this. Maybe Santa did tell him?

Santa told him what it was?

Later in the day our parents and siblings all came over and we just hung out all day and ate and opened more gifts. It was a nice relaxing day. There were so many people in the house that it got quite warm, especially with the oven and the fireplace going all day. So, we didn’t even notice that the furnace had gone out.

This is how we dress indoors now

On the morning of the 26^th we woke up to a 50 degree house. There was no time to call anyone about it because Phil’s brother Mark, his wife Heidi, and their boys Eli and Jack were on their way. They live overseas and we only get to see them once every year or two. Liam has only met his cousins once and he has been looking forward to their visit for months. Phil picked them up safely from the airport and upon telling them our news that we are expecting, they told us that they are too! Heidi is due six weeks before I am! How fun that these cousins will be so close in age! That night we had another big family dinner, this time with all of the extended family (Phil’s and mine) where we indulged in more food and more gifts. It was great to have everyone together for the first time in a long time (well, all except Phil’s second brother Jonathan who has just left for the Congo). This was the first family gathering where we had a whole little kid’s table.

Kids dancing with a robotic cow

The whole clan

The next several days were full of fun with Mark and Heidi at our house. All three of our boys (ages 1.5, 2.5, 3.5) had fun running around and playing together for the first time. On the 29^th we packed up and took them on a mini-vacation to Leavenworth. The original plan had been to meet them in Austria but when coming back to the States turned out to be a more affordable option for them, we settled for the next best thing to Europe, and only 2 hours away! We rented a cabin outside of town and spent three days sledding, eating Bavarian food, sitting in the hot tub (turned down to an appropriate heat for us pregnant ladies), and just enjoying being together. The boys’ favorite pastime was throwing their stuffed animals from the loft over and over again, climbing up and down. They also liked watching the snow plow come clear the driveways. It was great to get away.

Matching hats Uncle Josh brought us from Peru 

The Blomberg Boys

We returned home for a couple more all-family meals and then it was time to say goodbye. It was sad to see them go, and Liam still talks about how much he misses them, but it’s nice to know that it won’t be that long until we see them again. They’ll be back in the States in May or June for the birth of their baby so we hope to go see them then (they’ll be in Phoenix), which is a lot sooner than we had expected. It is so wonderful to have such a big family on both sides and unbelievable that everyone gets along and loves being together. It makes the holidays truly a blessing.