Christmas Craziness

The last day or so leading up to Christmas and the ones following tend to be a bit hectic for our family. Not sure what it will look like next year when there are 5 of us, but we stuck with our typical tradition again this year.

We celebrated Christmas as a family Sunday afternoon. The hubs and I didn't do anything since we have so much going on with the new house, but the kids had stockings to open and to presents to unwrap under the tree. It may not seem like much, but they get spoiled rotten between all the family parties so we think a minimalist approach is best.

On Christmas eve we hit the road to celebrate with my mom's side of the family at my Grandma's house. We stuff ourselves with way too much scrumptious food, have a mini Christmas program and then open gifts. During the Christmas program we light candles and sing Christmas carols while the kids tell the Christmas story. Jason wasn't impressed with Easton's 'hillbilly Santa Claus' get-up i had for him this year :)

The grandparents with all their grandchildren and great grandchildren

Once it's way past the little peoples' bedtime, we load up and continue to head east to stay at my mom and step-dad's house. Usually everyone heads to bed while my mom and I stay up to chat and wrap any last minute presents. This year an amazing thing happened- all the gifts were under the tree so we didn't have to break out any wrapping paper!

Christmas morning can be a bit chaotic with 4 adults and 5 kiddos nestled in around the tree. We open presents and have a big brunch before packing up the van again to head back west to my dad's. We hang out open presents and have dinner. Most of the time we stay over night before heading back home, but with Christmas on a Tuesday we needed to get back so Jason could go  to work. We also had scheduled our carpet to be installed upstairs.

Papa Spence is aiming to be the next family photo bomber

Things are a little crazy, sometimes things feel a bit rushed, but this is the best system we currently have to see all of the family that is spread out in a short time span. Next year we may have to come up with a new plan- it's hard to fit four of us, all the gifts and overnight gear in our van now!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends.