We had our usual progressive dinner the week before Christmas too. I just love going from house to house, seeing everyone’s decorations, eating their food, and spending quality time with some of the people I love the most!  This year the route was mapped out a little better than past years.  We started with Appetizers at Jean & Lou’s house, Salad at my parents house, Dinner at Bob & Teresa’s house, Dessert at Nana’s house, and then Drinks & Gifts at my house!

The week before Christmas I was invited to attend the Governor’s One on One Christmas Program in Hertford, NC.  It is always great to see how much the program grows every year, not to mention how many great kids are involved in it!  This year was a special year though.  They did a little tribute to my grandfather (who started the organization) and to my grandmother, Narnie, for always being supportive.  It was really touching to see all the hard work the kids put into the presentation for a lady they didn’t even know.

Christmas was nice this year!  My roommate invited me to church with them the week before the holiday. I really needed that.  It helped me get into the spirit of the season even more.  A couple days before the holiday I packed up my jeep and my walkie talkies then headed up to Northern Virginia.  Walkie Talkies you ask?  Michael and I caravanned up there.  They worked out GREAT as we spent most of the day stuck in traffic on 64 and 95.  It was a nice couple days up there though.  I finally got to meet his sister and her family, and spend some time with some of Michael’s friends too.

I drove home on Christmas Eve.  Somehow it only took me 2 hours and 55 minutes to get from Alexandria to Chesapeake!  Apparently I was going at the speed of reindeer!  Christmas was quite in my parents house this year, but it was nice.  We had a nice (PALEO!!) Christmas Eve dinner, watched a couple movies and headed to bed at a decent time.  The next morning we did the normal gift opening thing.  I got several nice things this year!  Pearls from Michael, and a smorgasbord of things from my family (see the pink hat with the light below?!).  After unwrapping it was time for Christmas Breakfast!  Half of it was paleo friendly… the french toast casserole… not so much.

Oh! And a few Christmasy photos from around my house this year…

Caitlin & Chloe in their Christmas Jammies!

My mantel all dressed up for the holiday!

My neighbor’s Charlie Brown Christmas Tree that I LOVED!

The real tree that Caitlin and I picked out, carried home, decorated, and loved all season!

So there ya have it friends and family!  I may be a couple weeks late, but you got your Christmas recap!  Stay tuned tomorrow for the New Years recap!  It includes winning a lot of dollar bills, fishing in ski clothes and cooking a paleo meal for my entire family!

I assume we all have our favorite holiday traditions.  You know, the ones that if they don’t happen for some reason, the holiday season is just a little “off” and not quite the same.  Whether it’s baking cookies, or volunteering, or listening to Christmas music, or going to a ton of parties with friends and family - they are all important and special.  However, there is still that one thing… that one thing that reminds you that yes, in the midst of all the chaos and shopping, it really is Christmas.

My “thing” is hanging lights at my parents house with my dad.  This activity has taken place for years and years.  I can’t even remember when we started, but I can tell you what trees we started with (because two of them are gone due to hurricanes, and the others have grown so much that the light count has increased drastically!)  When I was young, it was my dad, my sister and I out there.  A year or two into the tradition, Leslie stopped helping.  She would work on decorating inside with my mom while I faced the elements and worked outside with my dad.

My dad and I started to get a bit competitive about things.  The pride we had in this job grew each year.  We wanted our yard to not only look the best, but be seen when you turn into the neighborhood.  We would drive around making sure our trees looked the best, and that we draped the lights just right.  Because of this, I am pretty sure there is a ‘Clark Griswold Complex’ that runs in the family.

Yesterday was the day.  Luckily it was the nicest day we have had in a while with a temperature of 67 degrees.  As we were decorating I was snapping pictures with my retro cam app to post and share.  I did not have a chance to go over to their house last night to see the finished product lighting up the neighborhood, but when I do I will snap a pic and add it to this post at a later date!

The trick is to roll up the lights on newpapers… makes the hanging efficient and helps you reach higher limbs by chucking the roll up in the air and hoping it catches!  Some of these papers are 10 years old… they have served us well.

Yes, the chucking method is great until the paper gets stuck… then you need the ladder… (below)

(Below) My dad was on a 5 foot ladder and I was on one taller that was at least double the height, looking down on him.  Pretty sure it was the tallest ladder we have had to use in all these years!  Not sure what we are going to do when these trees get much bigger!

 The small tree/bush thing above is usually the last stop for us.  It doesn’t stand with the other trees, but it still gets two strands of lights over by itself.

Below is a photo of our happy helper this year, Chloe, with the HUGE magnolia tree behind her.  The magnolia started out as a weed-looking thing (which I learned yesterday, my dad tried to kill it numerous times, thinking it was a weed, before he learned my grandparents planted it there without telling him).  It started small, and now it is almost as tall as the pine trees around the yard.  From that monster magnolia, he has started growing 3 others.  The coolest thing is that all of them started with my grandfather’s tree.  Hopefully when I get a house with a bigger yard I will also be able to take some seeds from this tree and plant it!

And last but definitely not least - this photo got 8 “likes” on facebook yesterday so I figured I would throw it on here.  Chloe thought she was a great help and she definitely enjoyed having the run of the yard for a couple hours while we worked!