Our Christmas ♥

Machelle and I had such a great Christmas!! Greg and I flew to Utah to spend the holidays with family and we really spent most the time just hanging out at home- talking, playing games, laughing and eating yummy food. When it really comes down to it, that is when the best memories are made and being with family is what the holidays (especially Christmas) are all about.

This year was also a little extra emotional too because there are some huge moves coming up in our family. Our brother Spencer and his wife and two daughters just moved to Mississippi and our brother Steven and his wife Leah are moving all the way to Australia in February! So while they have super fun adventures awaiting them, it made the holidays bittersweet since it is the last time we will all be together for at least a few years. But luckily, almost everyone made it to Utah this year and it was fantastic.

Here are some highlights of our time together (warning: tons of pictures of adorable nieces)!

I tried so hard to get a good picture with my niece Emmalynn but boy do two year olds run around non-stop! This was our best shot. She also had such a blast playing in the snow with her dad- they live in Nevada so it was her first time seeing snow!

Greg and I spent as much time as possible with Stella since we live way too far away from her! Machelle and I met up with our dear friend Heather and saw Odyssey Dance Theater’s Nutcracker Redux. In sum, the performance was not the best but hanging out out with Heather and seeing her adorable baby was the best.

Some of the delicious food I mentioned. And Greg and I enjoying a white Christmas! Even though we never stay in DC for Christmas and instead are visiting family in Idaho or Utah we haven’t had a white Christmas in several years. This year, it was just perfection. And there is nothing better than cousins playing together.

Stella really seemed into water bottles during our visit so I had to capture it. And Christmas morning with little ones is truly magical. The bottom left just captures so many great things – Shelby trying to get Greg’s attention in the cutest way possible and Stella’s sweet face.

Ok, seriously. Are they not the most beautiful pair in the world?!

Our family tradition is to have a big dinner on Christmas Eve followed by the grandchildren getting gifts from Grandma and Grandpa and then we read the Christmas story. This year Machelle and I put together a very simple, playful table for the dinner.

We wanted to use paper and plastic because there would be so many guests and dishes on Christmas Eve is no fun! So we mixed patterns and shades of green with red. All our decor was also paper which we thought would be kinda fun! Like a throw-a-way party!

The place cards were made from paper straws glued together and the names slid inside. Of course our doily cups were featured along with a simple paper tree forest as a centerpiece. Easy peasy and playful!

We are so lucky to have such an amazing family full of incredibly different individuals. It always makes for a fantastic and unexpected time together. And for parents that put so much effort into making every day and meal extra special. Christmas is always over way too soon and looking back on these makes me so sad it is gone but 2014 was one for the books!