Holiday Recap

Sorry I've been MIA lately!  Christmas snuck up on us and before I knew it the house was full of family and life was crazy.  This was our first Christmas in our house and we offered to host.  So my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law and three nieces arrived Dec 23rd from both coasts to visit.  We had fun spending time together, eating food, opening gifts.  Lacey even got along with my sister's dog, Brownie, and didn't seem to mind sharing her house.  I think Lacey particularly liked my 2-year-old niece Juliet because she frequently left behind crumbs of tasty food for her. 

Our Christmas decor

The banister dressed up in purple and silver

A great stocking stuffer!

Checking out the loot

Excited about gum

She loved tearing off the wrapping paper

Our dinner spread

The day after Christmas we hosted Corey's granddad, aunts, uncles, cousins and their kiddos.  Including my family we calculated 34 people at our house for brunch.  It was a little loud, quite busy but rather fun as well.  We hadn't seen some of this family for a couple years and there were new babies to meet, so lots of catching up to do.  It was only a few hours, and pretty exhausting, but I'm glad we did it.

Most of the boy cousins

Grandad + cousins + kids

Four of my seven nieces

After the house cleared out, my family headed out to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes.  We grew up listening to the old Sherlock Holmes radio shows on tape and watching the old BBC TV episodes.  It was a good movie and a good time.  My parents flew home the next day and my sister's family stayed for a few more days.

We spent a lot of time around the house, watching movies, playing games and cooking/cleaning.  It was nice having a full house, since its usually just us three.  Yesterday was the first full day of just us again and it took a little to get used to the quiet! 

Hosting Christmas meant a lot of cooking, cleaning, dishes and stress but it was well worth it.  I don't think we could do it every year, but I definitely look forward to many more family Christmases at our home.