Happy Thursday! I am finally getting around to sharing our Christmas break pictures. We had a great time, but it was a go go go break and there wasn’t much sitting around at all.

We started our break with our Christmas lights tradition. We all get a milkshake, get in our pjs, and drive around to look at lights. Our town didn’t let us down this year. There were blow form nativities, tons of inflatables, lights set to normal, and more. It was the perfect way to start our break.

Luke had a swim meet on Saturday and we went to my parents’ house afterwards to bake cookies.

Saturday night, Luke hung out with my parents and I went to a Christmas party while Jack and Jeff were at a basketball game.

On Sunday, we were back cheering Luke on at his swim meet. He had a great meet!

This was me, running on caffeine and Christmas cheer after a fun night at the party and an early warm up time for the swim meet.

This was me on Monday – come on Amazon!!

On Christmas Eve, we headed over to Jeff’s parents’ house for a yummy brunch and to exchange gifts with his family. It is such a fun morning with all six grandkids, Jeff’s brother and his wife, his sister and her husband, his parents, and his grandmother. I only got pictures of the four of us. Note to self – next time take pictures of everyone!!

We come home in time to put the beef in the oven before going to church. My parents meet us at church and we sit with a big group of friends. It’s so nice to sit with so many people we love to celebrate Christmas. 🥰

Then we dash home to get the beef out of the oven and enjoy one of my favorite dinners of the year. Our table is always full of presents. We exchange new pjs, an ornament that signifies something from the year, Christmas crackers, and this year my mom found mini Christmas puzzles for everyone.

I have books for everyone for Jolabokaflod. Check back next week for our Jolabokaflod book list. Here’s last years.

It was an early night for everyone, the boys, my parents, and us. I think the grownups were in bed by 10:30. It was the most prepared I was for Christmas Eve ever. I think there are two reasons for this. One – I had 3 full days off before Christmas Eve. Two – there weren’t as many items that needed to be assembled on Christmas Eve. Either way, it made a huge difference.

We held the boys off until 6:30 and then they were ready to see if Santa came. Guess what – he did! We had the best time opening gifts with my parents. We took a little break in opening because the sunrise was breathtakingly beautiful!!

Around 10:30 my parents headed home for a little bit. We have both of our parents and Jeff’s grandmother at our house on Christmas night. We do heavy appetizers throughout the day. It’s so easy and I love how laid back the day is. Again, note to self – take more pictures of everyone together Sarah!!

On Thursday after Christmas we had a family outing to Trader Joe’s and Mission BBQ. Then it was home to play with your Christmas gifts. It looked a lot like this:

Jack had a basketball tournament on Friday and Saturday. He played well.

Luke had a horrible cough/cold and he couldn’t shake it so we ended up at the doctors. He was so patient and read his book while we waited.

We watched the Chik-Fil-A bowl with Chic-Fil-A, as always.

On Sunday, the boys got to be ball boys at the University of Maryland Men’s Basketball game. We took our dads with us and the boys were over the moon excited. I may have been pretty excited too because I took over 400 pictures. 🤩 They got to rebound for the team while they were warming up and then had to mop up the sweat on the floor during timeouts. You better believe I’ll be looking for them to use those mopping skills at home!

I spent Monday with the girls. I had a mani/pedi appointment with some girl friends and then ran a few errands. It was a low key but productive day.

On Tuesday, Jeff and I started our annual organize/purge/rearrange furniture/build a bookshelf routine. Every year over break this happens. It usually starts by cleaning off one bookshelf, then bam! 5 trash bags, 4 donate bags, 3 cleaned out closets/dressers, 2 moved bookshelves, 1 built bookshelf later and I am ready for the new year. It took two days this year, but it was worth it!

We spent New Year’s Eve with friends but were snuggled in our bed together to watch the ball drop. The chocolate liquors were so tasty!!

The boys and I went back to school on the 2nd and it was quite a rude awakening. We made it through the two days, but it was rough.

Whoa – picture and info overload, but you made it! Thanks for reading. We had an amazing break and I can’t wait for summer now. I love all the family time and all the fun no school allows for!!

Have a great day full of sunshine and books! I’ll see you back here tomorrow for my favorites.