I never would have thought we would be celebrating the holidays in the middle of a global pandemic. Everything in the world was still so uncertain which meant our normal Christmas traditions would look a little different this year. We managed to find a way to keep things as normal as possible. One of our favorite things to do is drive around and look at Christmas lights. We have our favorite neighborhoods we like to visit, and we always drive through the Festival of Lights. Christmas lights are the best way to get into the Christmas spirit!
Back in November Olivia turned 14. She and her best friend Sara had planned a fun birthday party with their school friends, but of course COVID stepped in. The girls tried to reschedule but it was just too difficult. Instead they found a weekend to get together with a few girls friends to celebrate. A few simple decorations, some balloons, a cake and some great friends is all you need to create a fun birthday celebration! I love that they managed to still celebrate their 14th birthdays, even if it was in a very scaled back way.
With the birthday celebration officially behind us we were able to get back to enjoying all things Christmas. Luckily this year the reindeer still made an appearance at Jefferson Pointe. Many outdoor activities were still taking place, which was nice. During our evening at Jefferson Pointe Cece got the chance to pet two reindeer, take a photo with The Grinch and enjoy the beautiful Christmas tree light show.
One thing that did prove difficult this year was making our annual Santa visit. Many of the normal "Santas" were not making an appearance. Yes, my girls may be getting a little old to still visit Santa, but it's a tradition, and one I am not quite ready to give up yet. Olivia may no longer "believe" in the magic of Santa, but Cece was still holding on this year. I am fully aware that may not be the case neat year. In the meantime I will soak up what I can, even if that means that this year's Santa picture had to be taken from a distance. Thanks, COVID! They were still able to share their Christmas wishes with the big guy!
The holidays aren't complete without Christmas cookies, and girls love decorating them! Their decorating skills get better each year and I continued to be impressed. This year's cookies were the best yet! Small special moments like this helped to make an otherwise challenging time feel a little more normal.
After weeks of Christmas movies, hiding the Elf on the Shelf, looking at Christmas lights and just spending time together Christmas Eve was upon us. This day looks different than years past, but the meaning behind stays the same. Cece wanted to put on her fancy Christmas dress even though we were only going over to my mom's for the evening. This girl is always looking for a reason to be fancy!
Once we arrived at my Mom's we had to take the obligatory annual Christmas family photos. But the girls were most excited about food and presents! Our Christmas Eve tradition at Nana's is to open stockings. Cece could hardly contain her excitement as she tore through her little gifts, and once she was done she promptly helped us open our stocking gifts. This girls loves opening presents! In addition to their stockings the girls each get to open one gift on Christmas Eve. Clearly the excitement of the evening caught up with Cece. Christmas Eve is the one night of the year that I dont have to beg the girls to get to bed. They know that the sooner they go to sleep the sooner Christmas morning arrives.
My girls have never been ones to wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning and I am super grateful for that. Now that doesn't mean they are not super excited to run downstairs to see what Santa has brought once they do wake up. And like every year, Santa did not disappoint! Cecilia got her wish of a skateboard and Olivia played along and asked Santa for LED lights for her room. I know I am on borrowed time when it comes to Cece believing, so I made sure to really soak up her delight and that sparkle in her eye knowing that Santa granted her Christmas wishes.
Santa had his turn, so now it was ours. We were so excited to watch the girls open their gifts from us. We try not to over do it and just get them a handful of special things we know they would like. I think the smiles on their faces told us that we did good!
After some relaxing we made our way to my Mom's for round two of Christmas. There they were blessed with even more wonderful gifts. I think Cece could open presents for days! They were beyond happy with the gifts and super grateful to their Nana for spoiling them once again this year.
Christmas night was a quiet one for us. We ordered some Chinese food and just relaxed at home. Before wrapping up the holiday we finished things off with opening our family stockings. I was pretty burnt out from present opening by that point, but there was no way Cece was going to let us forget about the last gifts of the day.
Overall, despite all of the changes Christmas turned out to be pretty normal for us this year. We always use this time of year to create special memories. We were not going to let a little pandemic ruin our holidays, so we did what ever we needed to do to still make it memorable. We kept the holidays going a tad bit longer so Olivia and her best friend Sara could celebrate together. They had a fun evening exchanging presents and just catching up. These two have a special relationship and it has been so nice to watch them continue to grow closer.
We wrapped up this crazy year with a quiet New Year's celebration at home. Just like with everything else this year, it was pretty uneventful, but it sure felt good to say goodbye to 2020. Here's to hoping we are on a fast track to normalcy in 2021!
