Merry Christmas, Part 2

Bright and early Christmas morning, Crissy and I drove the 2-ish hours from my parents to hers.  While leaving the house by 7:20 to try to make it to her grandparents' by 9:00 seemed early, we were grateful that her parents had changed their mind about us needing to be at their house by 7:30 Christmas morning (which would have meant a 5:45 departure time).  Now, keep in mind that the weather between Washington and Farmersville can be a bit different.  So, while to all of Crissy's family it might have seemed like driving would be a piece of cake, it wasn't that way to me (let's disregard my complete paranoia about driving in winter, k?).  It was a little like this at my parent's house before leaving:

And, in comparison, it seemed like this when we arrived to the Springfield/Farmersville area:

We did, however, finally arrive - albeit late.  Christmas is definitely different between our two families and it was a new experience for me to have the "full" Brockmeyer Christmas experience this year.  You see, even though Crissy and I have been (mostly) together for the past 4.5 years, we've never split holidays before.  We've always done our own thing - and frequently, I've driven down to see her sometime on Christmas day (or whatever holiday is in question).  This was the first time that we attempted to spend holidays together - and with each of our families.  Honestly - it worked out pretty well, I think.  Christmas Eve is a much bigger deal in my family (and to me) and Christmas day is a pretty big deal to Crissy's family....so it was easy to split.  Plus, it was really nice to be able to have the full Christmas experience with each other - and each other's families. 

So....Christmas with her family typically starts with gift exchanging at her parents house; however, since we were late that portion was postponed until Christmas night.  The whole family extravaganza starts at 9 (or when we arrived) at her grandparents house - with everyone sitting around in a circle in the garage (with heat) to open presents.  This includes her grandparents, their three kids (which includes Crissy's mom), and the grandkids and significant others/spouses.  The biggest difference I noted between our families is how gifts get distributed.  I'm a big believer in the "one-at-a-time" method, where one present is handed to someone, they open, then a gift is handed to someone else, everyone watches while that person opens, and the cycle continues.  Crissy and her family are of the "pile" mentality - where each person has a pile of presents and they open all of them at once, then move on to the next person.  They also do it in order of age - youngest to oldest.  It's interesting how different families are, you know.  It's also interesting that however we were raised is probably what seems "right" to us.  Needless to say, there were lots of gifts exchanged Christmas morning with her family and I got to be a part of it.  I've always been invited to things before this year and while I've often received something small from people - I typically felt like the "weird friend" who was just always around.  Now that has nothing to do with how Crissy's family has ever treated me - because they've always been fantastic and amazingly welcoming of me.  I've never felt like an outsider....but holidays left me feeling weird.  Until this year.  I didn't need gifts - and I had no expectation of them, honestly.  But, that little thing of gift giving and having my name on gifts with Crissy that were ours, jointly.....that left me feeling very much included.  Her family knowing about me and that we're getting married...makes a big difference.  I'm really glad they know, that I get to be a part of her family too - and that I got to experience my first family Christmas with all of them.  :)

Crissy has always referenced the different stages of gifts in her family...."morning presents," "stockings," "afternoon presents"....  There are definitely stages - the opening of presents as mentioned above, followed by stocking gifts for each family member.  Then, it's time to start on things for lunch - which apparently allows most family members time to nap or play games on the XBox (which included some pretty hilarious dancing).  Then it's lunch....and napping (because how can you not with as much food as they have?)....and then afternoon presents.  Afternoon presents, it turns out, is when gifts are exchanged with Crissy's great aunt and uncle, Joanie and Wendell.

Following ALL of that, we headed to her parent's house for gifts between them, Crissy and I, and Jennifer and Jeremy.  We had some pretty exciting surprises for them, as well....and surprised Jennifer and Jeremy with their wedding gift.  Since I never blogged about Jennifer's wedding, the short version is that it was lovely.  I took lots of pictures so that Crissy and I could give a really great gift.  Remember several posts ago about Blurb, the website where you can create books?  Well, that's what we did for them with some of the 850 pictures I took.  And, we decided that her parents would want one, as well....so we made a smaller version for them.  I think they were a pretty big hit...

As a result of Christmas, part 2....we now have barstools in the kitchen and new bedding in our room.  We're pretty excited about all of it.  Check out how our room looks now with the new bedding:

Merry Christmas, Part 1

Christmas began with some time at my parent's house in Washington.  Crissy and I headed over on Thursday evening after she was done at work and we had sufficiently wrapped presents and packed for several days away from home.  Our holiday weekend started off well with my dad's famous (well, famous to us) homemade pizza, movies once Bill and Clare arrived and the start of jello shots.  Yep - our family celebrates holidays festively....with alcoholic jello.  It's nearly shameful for me to admit how much Peach Schnapps and Vodka I went through Thursday afternoon making the jello.  So, Christmas with my family resembles something a little like this picture of Crissy above.  Though, she only busts out the affro at Easter....not for Christmas.  haha.

We got some quality time with my parents, Bill and Clare - and eventually Kayla and Kyle, too.  There was lots of tasty food, aforementioned jello shots, wine, laughing, joking, relaxing and of course, presents.  It certainly wasn't all about the gifts, though we did get some great stuff.  More than that, we were pretty excited to give our gifts to my family.  Every person got something unique to them - and my dad, whose present hasn't arrived from Ireland yet, got a lovely hand-drawn picture of a sad elf explaining his present wasn't here, compliments of Crissy.

Best present given (aka the funniest)?  Definitely the one we gave to my brother.  You see, Bill is a HUGE Nine Inch Nails fan.  Even more than that, he LOVES LOVES LOVES Trent Reznor, the lead singer.  Bill claims to not be the least bit interested in guys....but I'm pretty sure that, without a doubt, he'd leave Clare for Trent if ever presented with the opportunity.  So, after a big misunderstanding about what type of "album" Bill really wanted for Christmas and the number of days dwindling, I suggested that Crissy sketch a picture of Bill and Trent.  I mean, that's a one of a kind gift...how could he not love it?!?!  Crissy did a great job - and I framed and matted it, so it was a legitimate gift.  Now, more than giving great gifts to my brother, I LOVE driving him crazy and irritating him.  For instance, I know exactly which nicknames tick him off the most.  So, I figured putting "Boyfriends" on his frame in blue glittery letters would do exactly that.  Instead, he found it as hilarious as I did.  But, hooray for him enjoying it and finding the humor in it!  Here's a pic of his picture all framed and ready to be wrapped:

Perhaps one of the most meaningful gifts received?  The Little Prince (pop-up version!)....from my brother.  I really love all of the gifts people got me and am beyond appreciative.  A lovely turquoise peacock graces our Christmas tree, a peacock vase sits on the hope chest in our room, our bed is far more cozy due to the new down-alternative mattress topper, Date Night has been watched and laughed at, my fun green coat has been worn and kept me warm, plus lots of other goodies.....  But, The Little Prince will always hold a very special place in my heart.  Somewhere is the version I read for the very first time - my mom's.  I remember reading it very young, perhaps around age 8 or so....and then probably several more times as I got older.  I read the original French version in 4th or 5th year French in high school....and have thought of it very few times since then.  When I pass it in a bookstore, I often look at it - and wonder if I know of anyone I should buy it for to spread the goodness of such a wonderful story.  To be honest - I remember few details of the story and only can recall the beauty of how it's written and the amazing life wisdom imparted by Saint-Exupery.  Now I get to re-read the story and check out all of the fun pop-up pieces in this new book.  Crissy has never read the story (shocking, right?!?!) and it's exciting to be able to share this with her, too.  Plus - as Bill mentioned when he gave it to me....it's something that can be shared with our kids, too, one day.

Tis the Season

Crissy and I have been talking all weekend about putting up the tree - and finally did it today.  While we've spent Christmas together since we first began dating for the first time, this year feels different.  This is the first Christmas of us living together.  This is the first Christmas of us being engaged.  This is the first Christmas where it feels like it's our "first Christmas together."  So, we pulled the tree out of the box from the basement and brought up our respective ornaments and mixed what we each have had to create our new tree.  I think it's pretty.....  We also lit this Yankee Candle holiday wax thing I received as a gift somewhere along the way....and between the tree and the "candle," it seems a whole lot like Christmas in our house.  Happy Holidays!