This year we had the unique opportunity to “go home” to Ian’s parents. They actually live in the Atlanta area so normally we would open gifts at home in the morning and then head over to them in the afternoon. Since we are still here in the US, we decided that we’d capitalize on the opportunity and pack up our things and head over to share Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at their house.
When we arrived Ian and his dad got to work on finishing up the outdoor decor.
Ian’s mom is a drama teacher and one of the best things about going to Nina and Papa’s is all of the surprise costumes that you can find all over the place.
Here’s most of the crew in the traditional new Christmas PJ’s. This year the theme was monkeys. Aunt Greyson searched high and low to find the perfect combination for everyone.
On Christmas Eve we joined them in their tradition of going to the Waffle House for dinner.
We made sugar cookies for Santa.
Our kids got really tired and Aunt Greyson and I actually ended up finishing up the job of eating making the cookies for Santa. Once the kids were in bed, the adults went to work on getting things ready for the morning. Because we were spending 3 nights we decided to bring all of our gifts unwrapped to save space. Â As a result we were up until 2AM finishing things up.
The next morning the kids were so excited to walk into their winter wonderland and to break into the gifts.
I loved watching Asher really get into the game this year. Although I will say that he had a tough time understanding that not every toy was for him.
Later on in the day the rest of the family arrived. We shared a great meal and got to eat lots of delicious food.
Ian’s mom is amazingly talented and plays a large variety of instruments. On Christmas night she sang, played the piano, the flute and the guitar. Here she is leading us in the 12 days of Christmas.
The grand finale of the evening was a birthday party for Jesus.
We really enjoyed this last Christmas in the US. There wasn’t really any mention of that actually. Â I think we all just wanted to enjoy our time together and treasure each moment.
We hope you had a great time celebrating Christmas with your family too!