Christmas 2020

We had a wonderful few days with family over the holidays.

Now that my mom is home and living with my sister, we have a little juggling to do.

We used to spend every holiday with Steve's parents because we're all local. 

With COVID and everything going on, my sister in law and her family are not traveling and ergo did not visit this year.

We decided to spend Christmas Eve with Steve's parents and have the girls enjoy their first Christmas of the season. We spent a lovely afternoon there, had lunch and opened presents. 

Super low-key this year

We measure the girls against this door every year. 

Ava being a goof

We spent a good part of the afternoon explaining to Grandpa what streaming TV is. 

Another Ruple tradition - hand prints on the tree skirt. 

We got home in the late afternoon and spent the rest of the evening as just the four of us. Did some last-minute gift wrapping and enjoyed each others' company. 

I made more Christmas treats.

My first time making Christmas Crack. It was delicious and I'll be making it each year! 

And of course, chocolate chip, for Steve

Christmas morning was magical. 

The girls came running into our room around 7:45am and there was a lot of giggling and "Santa came!"

They gave us a few minutes to get up and get some coffee going because...duh.

And then they went for it.

Santa brought stocking stuffers and a few gifts this year. 

Dad got new whiskey glasses! 

LAVA LAMPS! Remember those!?

LOL. Mila got a teeny, tiny drone. 

We stayed home and relaxed for the morning so the girls could play with all their new toys. We packed ourselves up around noon to head to my mom's house for Christmas #3!

New Wellie Wisher dolls! (From American Girl)

The hand-sewn stockings my mom made. Love them. 

My heart is so full. 

The aftermath. Holy shit so much stuff! It was so fun - the first Christmas with my side of the family in 9 years. I'm so grateful my girls get to experience this. 

I've been making prime rib for Christmas for...maybe 3-4 years now? I forget. 

So I was very excited to make it this year for my mom and sister!

Got us a 5.75lb prime rib.

Don't get me started on the "Rotisserie" story. It doesn't matter now because I have one. And let me just say that I have NEVER made a bad meal in this thing. Roasted chickens were a weekly thing when I first got it. But even if I only made prime rib with this thing once a year it'd be totally worth it. 

I literally "set it and forget it"

1.6 hours later...Perfection.

Jennifer made a Christmas tree salad! 

💖

I failed to get a photo of the whole family, because well, that's just me. Nothing formal around here!

We truly had such a wonderful time. We helped mom clean up dinner, packed up our stuff and headed home. Steve had to work the following day, the dogs had to go out and we had to get ourselves settled. 

Now I just have to put away all the Christmas decorations....ughhh....

This is the first time in several years that I'm working the week between Christmas and New Year's. The last two years the company I worked for at the time closed the week between. Prior to that, the company I worked for also closed the week between - all of those closures were a "surprise" and were definitely not a tradition - I think we were just lucky to enjoy it for the last few years.

Being the new girl and the "lowest person on the totem pole" I opted not to take any time off during the holiday season. 1) I work from home all the time now, so it's less stressful to actually work. 2) It's generally pretty quiet so I don't think I'll be too busy. 3) I want to save my PTO for what might be coming up in the next couple of months. I haven't gone public with it yet...and I'm not sure I will. If I'm being true to myself, I will. So time will tell. 

Anyway. 

Time to get back to the grind. Get back to real life. 

For 3 days. 

Then I have 4 days off again for New Years. 

But THEN, it's time to get back to real life. 

Bring it on, 2021!