Christmas Traditions 2014

For those that celebrate I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!! It was extra joyful for Eric and me this year. Lots of family time and time off work for both of us, which is a rare occurrence but it was really needed and restful. Which is why I’ve been quiet on the blog as well. I hope you all had some good space from the usual routine to rest and relax and enjoy the people that mean the most to you.

Eric and I kicked off the week with a little family get together at our house filled with warm bowls of chili and s’mores over the came fire. I always love entertaining especially this time of year.

We went home to our parents houses (who live 10 minutes from each other), and stopped at Eric’s parents house first for a new tradition, Christmas Eve Brunch. I made a Sausage & Veggie Strata and Cranberry Orange Scones from King Arthur Flour. They were both big hits!! This is a pic of all the boys– Eric’s dad, brothers, and brother in laws.

After the fiesta, we drove to my parent’s house for their annual Christmas Eve party. We do a big white elephant gift exchange, it’s been a long standing tradition since before I was born. My parents host it now and it’s always a fun time filled with lots of laughing.

My sis was recently given this tiny chihuahua puppy, named Mia and she’s only 1o weeks and hardly the size of a water bottle. I was in awe at how small she was… look at her here compared to Pear!! 

I loved spending some good time with Teddy too!!

My side of the fam exchange gifts early on Christmas Day so we stay the night at my parents house. My top gifts this year are this adorable red Crazy Cat Lady mug, Hurom Slow Juicer, Silver Twist Knot Earrings that came in a little blue box (from my sweetheart), and a hot pink Michael Kors purse! I wasn’t sure about the color of the purse at first because I’m not very bold like that, but everyone told me I need it for a pop of color with my outfits. So I’m going to roll with it.

After opening gifts, my brother, Eric, and I went on a 3.5 mile run! This was super good for me because I haven’t been running much, it felt good to get out there and put in some miles. We saw this huge flock of birds on the run!! Now that is a lot of birds.

We had breakfast after the run and I contributed this Eggnog Pull-Apart Cinnamon Roll Bread from Half Baked Harvest. It was ahhhhmazing!

That afternoon we headed to Eric’s Mimi’s house where all the extended family gather. The day after Christmas we hung out a while and then drove back Orlando for the Magic game vs the Cavs. And I’m going to stop there because that night I learned how much I am not a fan of Lebron James.

This week we have college friends from the tri team coming in to town and will back to my parents house for their New Year’s Eve bash.

Question: What family traditions do you look forward to during Christmas time? 

Sharing is caring!