Christmas Part I

We received an early gift for Christmas yesterday -- everyone from my side of the family came together for an outdoor gift exchange! It's the first time we've been together in almost a year, thanks to Covid, and it was wonderful to be together (despite wearing masks and staying outside).

I was concerned about the weather, but thankfully we were spared the worst -- it was chilly but not miserable, and the rain held off. We spread out between the garage and the driveway, ate lunch and chatted and drank gluhwein, while the kids ran around, had light saber fights, roller skated, and bounced on the pogo stick. The fires were cheerful, and the kids roasted marshmallows and made smores.

Opening all the presents was the kids' favorite part, of course! My garage was temporarily covered in tissue paper, wrapping paper, ribbons and gift bags as everyone tore through their gifts. 

CC received a quill with ink that she's been dying for; Sweet Pea flipped out when she unwrapped her Hot Wheels garage, and Little Man almost ruptured my eardrum when he opened his Baby Yoda Lego set. There were t-shirts and candy and LOL dolls and games and so many smiles! It was magical.

We sang happy birthday to my dad and Karen, and my mom treated us all to another one of her fabulous -- and gorgeous -- cakes.

All of us gave my dad his combined Christmas and birthday gift -- a framed picture of Notre Dame that he has wanted for years. Unfortunately, the gift we got for my mom was stuck in post office limbo for weeks (it arrived today, naturally), so it will have to be shipped separately.

It was so nice to be together again. Hopefully before too long, it will be safe for us to resume normal gatherings. But in the meantime, I'm so grateful that everyone took the time to come together (especially Jon and Susan, who drove all the way from Atlanta just for the day, and Karen, who is recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery).

And three cheers for our wonderful neighbors, who let us borrow chairs, tailgate tents and fire pits, and even took our family picture!