Christmas Day 2025

Unfortunately, Jeff and I are always procrastinators when it comes to all the Christmas prep. So even though we did quite a bit on Tuesday, we still had a lot to finish up last night, so it was past midnight when we finally checked off all the boxes. But everything looked so great when we finally made it to bed! (And although the boys weren’t with us this year, and we didn’t put anything in their stockings, we still wanted to lay them out with the family!)

And these little cuties were up and at ’em early this morning, but we finally got up out of bed ourselves when they woke us up at 7am 🙂

For the second year in a row, we went “light” on the physical gifts, and spent more money to get each girl an  experience gift, which we enjoy drawing little tickets to represent the activity. Last year, we took them both to Wild Adventures, but this year, they each get their own day… For Addison, she will be going to Redemptive Love Farm for a daddy daughter date, complete with lunch of her choice and capped off with ice cream. (Honestly, she would have been happy just to go out for ice cream, she’s so easy to please!)

For Emerson, we really splurged when I got lucky with the chance to buy tickets to the Jonas Brothers concert in Jacksonville next week. We’ve all been totally obsessed with them over the past 6 months or so, so her special activity is a mommy daughter road trip to her very first concert next week!

 

 

 

Jeff and I collaborated on drawing these tickets. I did the barn and lights on Addie’s, and I’m honestly really proud of how cute those turned out.

Emerson picked out this cute little Glinda Squishmallow for her sister at Five Below a couple of weeks ago, because Emmie already has the Elphaba one to match. And Addie loved it!

We had a little time to rest at home after we finished opening gifts, and then we got a million things packed up (in two separate cars), to head out to Grammy and Papa’s house for our giant family Christmas. First up, was my favorite breakfast ever, which my Grandmommie always makes and we simply call Christmas Pie. It’s basically just quiche with eggs, ham, & bell peppers, plus cheese, and I always love this so much.

And then of course began the chaos of six little kiddos opening up tons of presents! There was wrapping paper, tissue paper, and gift bags flying everywhere, with tons of noise and happiness and excited squeals.

And after all the indoor presents, all the girls marched out to the backyard to see what Papa had just installed for them, new climbing nets and a ladder, like a mini ninja warrior training area for them!

For lunch, we did dips and appetizers and charcuterie, and everything was sooo good. And a very fun way to celebrate Christmas lunch.

The girls all played for a couple of hours after lunch, while Hayden had a nice long nap. We eventually forced Addison to lay down for a nap too, and Jeff laid down with her. For most of that time, the adults all sat on the back patio chatting and telling stories and reminiscing and looking up old photos, and truly laughing so much we couldn’t breathe at times. It was the best.

By late afternoon, once all the kiddos were awake again, we went on a little family walk down the street, with all the kids on their “wheels.” As with everything, it was pure chaos, but it was fun!

I forgot to take any photos at dinner, but Mama had made two giant crockpots with pot roast, potatoes and carrots, then we did some green beans and yeast rolls, and it was all delicious. Everyone headed home in the early evening after such a long day, after lots of hugs and loves to go.

We were up until almost 1am finishing everything last night, and then I still couldn’t go to sleep until almost 2am. And even then, I just had a hard time sleeping and kept waking up way too many times. So after a night like that, and a very full, busy holiday, I’m totally wiped out tonight! I actually debated whether or not I even had the energy to write this post tonight, but my friend Kacie encouraged me while texting earlier tonight, so it’s thanks to her that I got it done, which I appreciate! Looking forward to staying home tomorrow though 😉