Christmas 2015

Well, it's been a month since the Christmas season officially ended.  

And even though our tree has been down for a few weeks, it's taken this long (at least at my house!) to fully come down from all the holiday hoopla and get back into normal daily routines, not eat cake and cookies for breakfast, get my kids (and myself!) dressed before noon, clear out clutter and find places for all the generously given new toys, books and clothes, take down ornaments and pack up all the decorations (including the new wave of ones that were made with love by my school age kids) and get used to writing the new year every time I write down the date.  

But I don't mind it at all one bit. 

Some of my best memories are made in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but with all the (seemingly) unavoidable chaos and hectic pace of it all, it takes a few weeks afterwards to for me to fully appreciate them.  

As I went about my business of packing up Christmas (hey, that rhymes!), I thought about the things that I want to remember most about this year. And so, instead of a play-by-play of Christmas 2015, I decided to make a list of my 

25 27 Most Memorable Moments of Christmas 2015 
(I aimed for 25, which sounds so much better, but what can I say? It was a memorable season this year!) 

1. Our Unexpected Decorating Party with the Sorbello Girls

Shiloh came to give my boys haircuts, so while he worked on one of my kids, I put his to work :) 

They did an excellent job filling my home and my front yard with life, laughter and Christmas Cheer (and two handsome boys!) and made it one of my favorite days of the whole year!

2. The night that I got to go out to the Women's Christmas Event at church and Sean stayed home to show the kids Star Wars for the first time.

We figured it was about time they know where light sabers come from... 

and apparently, how to hold one properly!

3.  When our lovely, loyal and enthusiastic friends Ben and Katie came over on a school night for dessert.  

The Hot Chocolate was yummy, Katie's chocolate chip cookies were amazing, Oliver's Toby Mac concert and Summer's accompanying dance moves were entertaining, but all of that pales in comparison to the enormous joy we felt when they shared with us that they were going to have a (much wanted/long awaited for) baby in the New Year. I'm still smiling over that one :)

4.  That day we took Oliver out of school so we could go to San Francisco and ride cable cars, eat ice cream by the ocean.... and take some pictures in our favorite photo booth!! 

5.  The Sunday when my preschooler sang with his class at church.

There are not many things more fun to watch than a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds all dressed up in their holiday best and singing their hearts out. For some reason, they look so little to me when they are all together up on that stage next to their teacher with the big guitar, and I find it a refreshing change from every other moment of my life where my children look more grown up than my heart can bear. It's good to be reminded of how young they still are. 

When we arrived, there was crazy wind and pouring rain outside so I settled for a group shot in the car before we made a run for it to the church :)

6.  Rediscovering this album.

I have no idea where my Alan Jackson and Josh Groban Christmas cds went (yes, I still use them!), but I am OK with that because it gave me the chance to rediscover an old favorite.

Not only does she do an amazing Hark the Herald Angels Sing, but I press play and 10 seconds later I am 12 years old again- hair in double french braids, rollerblading with my brother and sister in our grandparent's basement in upstate New York after a day full of sledding, skating and eating honey on toast.  The ping pong table is up on one end, there are wet jackets and boots drip drying on the other and above me are the comforting muffled sounds of all the grown ups doing what ever it is that grown ups do at Christmas time when it's snowing outside and all the grandchildren are happily playing in the basement.
I already can't wait to pull this one back out next year!    

7.  Catching Summer in her own world of coloring and singing (her version of) Joy to the World on the kitchen floor

8. That time when Summer was afraid of Frosty the Snowman and I was wrist deep in meatloaf (my Grandma's recipe says you gotta mix it by hand!) so I sent her to Oliver for a hug.  
I washed my hands, but by the time I came out of the kitchen, I could tell that she was already getting just what she needed from him.  So I grabbed my camera instead.  

9.  Discovering the endless and amusing variations of the nativity scene as I walked through my living room each day :)
I call this one CSI: Bethlehem

10. Getting to have Ava over for our traditional cookie baking and decorating 
(and eating too, of course!!) 

It's hard to believe that she was the same age Oliver is now when we decorated our first cookies together!

11. That rainy afternoon when I expressed my wish for homemade chicken soup to take to my sick friend and Grandma Ellen, who happened to be in my kitchen at the time, not only jotted down the recipe that she always uses (from memory!) but then whisked me off to the store for ingredients, walked me through her whole process (now I know how to cut up a whole chicken and what to do with that liver!) and didn't leave until there was a pot of deliciousness simmering away on my stove.  She came to celebrate Elliott's birthday, but I think the time we shared in my kitchen and this little 4x6 card was the best gift of the day

12. Discovering that Elliott had taken it upon himself to personalize his stocking with a Sharpie.

Sean and I bought these stockings for our kids before we even had any.  We already had two for ourselves, but when I saw these at the store during our first Christmas as newlyweds, they reminded me so much of the ones my Grandma Burtt had made for all her children and grandchildren, that I felt especially attached to them.  It seemed foolish to spend money on something for children who didn't yet exist, but Sean loves me so he agreed to my plan, purchased three matching ones and then we looked forward to the year we would have reason to use them.  
We've used one, and we've used two, but this was the first year that we had three kids who were old enough to appreciate the three stockings and it made my heart happy.  
And now we know which one is Elliott's.

13.  Holleman Family Christmas

I think we are finally figuring out what timing/activities/food work for this energetic group, so now we just have to figure out how to take a decent family photo of us. This one might be fuzzy, but it's proof that we were all together and, more importantly, that we were all happy to be together. 

Maybe next year? :)  

14. Cousin Counterparts 

The Competitive/Sports Guys

The Comedy/Shenanigans Crew

And the Little Mommies

15. The three most highly anticipated parts of Christmas with the Hollemans: 

1) Auntie Kalani 

2) Football 

and,

3) Playing Football with Auntie Kalani

 16. For the first time since having children, I actually sat down at dinner time, joined in conversation, and was able to eat all the food on my plate without having to get up till I wanted to. This memorable holiday milestone was made possible by the one million toys in the upstairs playroom, my slowly-but-surely maturing children and a favorable cousin-to-cousin-age-and-gender-distribution ratio.  It was great.  And delicious :)

 17.  Recognizing the gift it is that my kids have grandparents who welcome and encourage and truly enjoy the children being children.  
 It has taken me a while to really embrace this one because I value order, respect and good behavior from my children and expect it especially when we are in someone else's space. 
But at this house, Grandma Gloria and Grandpa Gary invite them to let loose a little, explore their home and garden, use the whole bottle of bubble bath, touch fragile things, be loud, drop things down the stairs just to see what happens, have seconds of ice cream, ask a bazillion questions, request for toy trains to be set up when they should be going to bed or, like on this particular evening, give them all instruments and let them play however they wish to play, as loud as they wish to play and for as long as they wish to play. 
With their help, I am learning that Grandparenting is not the same thing as Parenting, and that it is a good thing.  
For all of us. 

18. Watching Elliott get to blow out the candles on his long-awaited birthday cake.
Daddy had to work on his actual birthday and then his party at the park was rained out the next day, so this little guy had to wait three extra days for this moment- which is kinda a big deal when you are turning five (!!).

19.  Getting ready for Christmas morning with Sean
In my opinion, the only thing better than being a kid at Christmas, is getting to be the parents of those kids at Christmas and working alongside your best friend (and the only other person in the world who loves your kids as much as you do) to make it meaningful and special for them.  
It's fun to have a say in the making of their childhood memories.
   
Twas the night before Christmas...

20.  Making "Our Christmas" at home on the 24th.

Daddy had to work on Christmas Day, so we did our own thing the day before.  I love the big family gatherings, but it was very special to have this time with just the five of us. 

We kept it pretty simple but they were overjoyed with what they found in their stockings.  It was a rare morning full of kind words, waiting patiently for others to open their gifts and just a spirit of thoughtfulness all around.
(It really was a Christmas miracle!) 

And then it was time to get outside and try out our new toys!

I know it looks like they are smoking cigarettes but I promise you those are pieces of gum being exchanged!! 

Trick jumps, races with Dad and a fun new way to zoom around...these Razor scooters were a total hit!!

Merry Christmas, kids.

We LOVE being your family!

 21. Hot Cocoa BEFORE dinner

Because I say a lot of No's in my line of work,

 and it's really fun to surprise them every once in a while with an absurd YES :) 

22.  Being in this place...

...with these people

...on this gorgeous Christmas day! 

23.  Exchanging Gifts with People We Love

some practical

some entertaining

some thoughtful

some professional

and all of them given with love :) 

24.  Drive Through Surprise Christmas Morning Kunkle Hugs!!

25. Catching up with dear old friends by the light of the tree (and the quiet of sleeping children)

26.  Day-after-Christmas conversation with my sister, her husband and a few cups of tea while the boys were happily engaged in some sort of major nerf gun battle outside :) 

I made them call a truce for a quick cousin photo before retreating back inside

Meanwhile, the girls were giving Summer the rock star treatment in the bathroom :) 

Gorgeous inside and out-I LOVE these girls!

And my last, but certainly not least, memorable moment of Christmas 2015 was...
27.  Every time I checked the mail and found a holiday card addressed to our family.
We hang the cards we receive on some twine over our kitchen table and let me tell you, there is no twinkling light or sparkling tree or any other Christmas decoration in my house that makes me smile more than that wall.  
It wasn't that many years ago when Sean and I found ourselves in a season where we felt like we had no sense of community and no place where we belonged.  Our closest friends lived in other states, we worked odd night shift hours and spent our days off sleeping or with our families who lived more than an hour away.  We were happy together, but we felt unconnected and really lonely. So we prayed earnestly for God to bring us friends.  And every time, every time, I see that wall-full of faces of people whose lives are now woven together with ours, I remember that night we first prayed, and I am humbled and in awe of the way he has so generously and tenderly answered.