Christmas 2022 w/ Family

 Family came in the week before Christmas. Thank God because they were all flying Southwest and we all know how that went this week. Yikes! We started doing Christmas a week early because it was cheaper for travel for everyone and then we get to stay home on actual Christmas with the kids. Years prior we travel for Christmas and the kids disliked being away from home for actual Christmas. Plus, I truly LOVE being home on Christmas. Watching the kiddos come downstairs in the morning with wide-eyes! Watching Christmas movies while Ty cooks his traditional biscuits and gravy. Sipping coffee and just relishing in joy. This year in SA we got COLD WEATHER!! Like 17 degrees kinda cold! It really made it feel a lot more like Christmas. My dad sadly couldn't make it from MA since he wasn't' feeling well. But the rest of the gang made it! 

I planned a fun filled week for family in Texas this year! We impatiently waited for them all to arrive. When we they pulled up, I felt like yelling, "Folks! Folks! Merry Christmas"! in my best Clark Griswold voice. LOL..... Once they got here, it was non-stop all week long! We did IT ALL. My sister brought supplies to make vintage Christmas ornaments. That was a blast and even my brother in law, Sean, got REALLY into the festive spirit while making his. Haha. We went Christmas caroling down the San Antonio Riverwalk in a caroling boat!! How cool is that!? They gave us hot toddies and hot cocoa as we sang to music under the holiday lights all along the river. Definitely a highlight of the trip! We made gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies- all of our favorites!  Played games and made all the festive drinks! Of course we watched a few movies, too. We did our annual Christmas "Eve" party and had so much food that we ate it for days afterwards! We went to Gruene to do some shop hunting and take in some music and old town vibes. We also went into Boerne on the weekend to their Holiday Market. We watched Scarlett at horse lessons and then did brunch at Dienger Trading Co. Before leaving Boerne, we stopped and saw Santa!! Vera was NOT impressed. Ha ha. We did an adults night out to the Rustic to hear live music. Another day, we did some Christmas shopping with just the girls. Grabbed lunch together before heading home to the boys knee deep in whiskey. Those simple moments were just as good as the bigger activities. Since we moved to Texas, it's been a big transition to get use to not knowing anyone- not having family close. In New York, we somehow recruited family to all come move there too, so it was not lonely. Plus, Ty's father lived there. For some reason I made friends easier and we knew a lot more people. Here....5 years into living here, I still miss just having a family member close to call up and ask to come over to watch a movie or maybe do something with. We don't know too many people. It was truly enjoyable to simply just have them, here. 

Once they left, I got the blues a bit. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was a houseful! Ha! Some days I felt like the McAllister house....But I still loved it even with all of the chaos. And then I got sick for Christmas. Merry Christmas!! 

ALL of the kids got sick right before family coming. Maxwell and Vera were on the tale end of their sickness when family arrived. I was thankful for that because they were pretty sick for a day or two there before family came. Then, of course I got whatever Vera had. Which I knew would happen when she sneezed in my face one day lol....Thankfully I didn't get sick until close to when family was leaving. By Christmas I felt better so I was able to fully enjoy the day. 

Now I'm sitting here in my house with my kids making all the messes with all the new toys that Santa swore he wouldn't bring...;) I'm sadly putting away my santa mugs while I play a sad Hallmark movie in the background. Getting the bins together to take down the 7 trees in my house.  I'm sure Ty can't wait to help me with that. There is nothing more depressing than Dec 27th. All the joy that comes with Christmas seems to slip away. I do look forward to a fresh clean house and this New Year, I have a much different outlook than past years. I'll write more on that later this week. For now.... I'll leave you with all of my memories from Christmas this year.