I pretty much had a perfect Christmas this year. Back in September, about 20 minutes before we all boarded our flight to Los Angeles, I ...

Christmas 2015 - All Together Again

Sunday, January 03, 2016 , , ,

Christmas 2015

I pretty much had a perfect Christmas this year. Back in September, about 20 minutes before we all boarded our flight to Los Angeles, I got an email from my sister. "Have fun in California! See you at Christmas!" and she had forwarded on their flight plans. For the first time in years, we would all be together in Colorado for Christmas. I knew it would be a good one, and it was.

Christmas 2015

After they landed from North Carolina we met them ASAP for some good Mexican food and margaritas. The snow started falling outside.

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Paxton did his best Jonathan Lipnicki impression. We were all blown away.

Christmas 2015

And the next day was Christmas Eve, so we met at mom and dad's house.

Christmas 2015

Papa Erickson had braved Trader Joe's during the holidays to buy the kids gingerbread house kits imported from Germany itself. So there. Perfection right down to the German gingerbread. {Notice Indy's festive wall decor she put together that day before our visit.}

Christmas 2015

I had worried that Ayla & Indy were too old for our girls this year, that they wouldn't be much interested in our little kids. Ayla is turning 12 this year! But no. They had such a great time together.

Christmas 2015

But seeing my nieces all grown up the way they are {starting to} just gets me all sorts of emotional. Look at Ayla. I saw her be born. And now she is a young woman with trendy hairdos. It's official. I'm old. This visit the girls just seemed different, like that child side of them has really started to give way to the young adult. I had a lot of fun just watching and listening to them.

Christmas 2015

Growing up we'd always open one gift on Christmas Eve, so we let the girls pick one each.

Christmas 2015

This is how we do it on Christmas Eve at our house. See our "alarm?" And good thing, because this year it DID go off. Someone had to go potty.

Christmas 2015

Before we knew it, it was Christmas. Santa came.

Christmas 2015

The kids were up fighting with their new light sabers while we baked a batch of cinnamon rolls I'd made the day before and we awaited the arrival of The Cousins.

Christmas 2015

Yes, please.

Christmas 2015

Christmas morning chaos.

Christmas 2015

The brother-in-laws received matching sweaters. What more could they want?

Christmas 2015

I got my chicken purse!!!!

Christmas 2015

Oh, the carnage!

Christmas 2015

Sander prepared a glazed, roasted duck as well as a rib roast. This little guy was the son of Percy, our cute black duck who moved out on to the farm. Percy has, um, turned out to be a prolific breeder. That's why he had to go to the farm in the first place, he was trying to be prolific with our chickens. Don't feel bad for him, he's got a huge pond. Feel bad for this guy:

Christmas 2015

When you get Millennial sisters together, selfies happen. {Behind these types of photos is mom or dad--or both--in the background taking a photo of us taking a photo. Because when you give Baby Boomers smart phones...}

Christmas 2015

There's lots of interesting and exciting news from the Tuttle clan, but it's theirs to tell.

Christmas 2015

We're happy for them this Christmas, suffice.

Christmas 2015

I did things casually this year. And it was nice. I baked only the cookies I felt like baking. I decorated only as much as I felt like decorating. The Christmas dinner table setting included paper napkins--not fabric?!--and a plastic coated tablecloth that was $4 from Walmart. Good enough for me!

Christmas 2015

Everybody loves Noah.

Christmas 2015

Who fought off ginger attacks from the safety of the green couch.

Christmas 2015

The duck was good! Justin also made a le orange sauce to go with it, French style.
Christmas 2015

For the first time in years, we all had Christmas dinner together. Us and the duck.

Christmas 2015

Mom had a pow wow with the Furbies after dinner. They were all riled up. Speaking of furbies...I have a story for my next blog post.

Christmas 2015

Indy My Niece tried out her new face paints on everyone who would consent. I'm still finding dolls with cat faces around the basement playroom.

Christmas 2015

Seriously, everybody loves Noah.

Christmas 2015

The next evening, my mother had procured all the women tickets to the Colorado Ballet's Nutcracker! So we went down to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
Christmas 2015

It all felt like a quite formal and Christmasy thing to do.
Christmas 2015

The girls loved it. Their first ballet.  They do such good job of it at the Colorado Ballet. The set, the costumes, the dancing, and the few bits of comic relief they work in.

Christmas 2015

Like when their giant puppeted Mother Ginger comes out and does the Macarena and the Sprinkler dance as the music goes faster and faster. The girls were hysterical.



On the way home I drove past the biggest, most romantic Christmas light display you'll ever see which I do not have a good picture of. Just see that tree criss-crossed with lights, and the one behind it covered in lit up globes? Imagine a 10 acre property with about 100 of those trees. You can see it from the road 1/2 mile away.

Christmas 2015

Last day of the Tuttle visit, we did something perfectly predictable. Cafe Rio & the DAM.

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While the kids arted in the giant family arting room, we got to see the new Southwest Art exhibit. Lots of Santa Fe & Taos paintings. Pay attention! This painting is of the Taos square. We've been there!

Christmas 2015

The kids mostly appreciate their own art though.

Christmas 2015

So it's good the Denver Art Museum gives them lots of opportunities to do just that. Great family museum.
Christmas 2015

Eisley working during her blue period:
Christmas 2015
It my little family of five, we have a New Year's tradition of eating Chinese food and sipping champagne {sparkling cider for the kids}. But we got a chance to do that a little early this year, on our last night with The Cousins.
Christmas 2015

Mom & dad have a smartly decorated, yummy Chinese food restaurant near their house. They're great! They just need to work on getting some child-appropriate drinkware.

Christmas 2015

After requesting milk, we were told all they have for kids was orange juice. So my kids each got a glass bowl of that.

Christmas 2015

It was, like, 5 degrees out so... egg drop soup was right.

Christmas 2015

We hope you had an equally wonderful season!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Heather


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1 comments

  1. I adored this post. Yes I also stalked a bunch of your family photos as they scrolled past in Facebook this month, but reading the stories made it so much better. Thank you ever so much for sharing, and happiest of new years to you!!
    (ps great families like yours make me even happier for my daughter choosing Colorado as her home xoxo)

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