Delayed Christmas in Charleston

 It was the in-laws turn to have Britany's family on Christmas Day, so John and I drove down the following Monday. Stayed 3 nights and had a ball!

Jackson is such a neat nick! He hands be every tiny piece of paper to throw away!

Brittany made a lot of different charcuterie boards while we were there

Kennedy got this cool toy for Christmas. Magic Mixie. You put different "chemicals" and water in the caldron and then a feather, a little plastic heart, etc. Each time you add something you tap the edge with the magic wand. Eventually smoke starts pouring out and lights flash and music sounds! Then something opens up in the bottom and you can reach in and pull out the cutest little stuffed animal!

Christmas back in Charleston

 Our first Christmas with TWO grandchildren! We crammed a lot in 2 and a half days!

Brittany bought us all matching jammies which we wore the evening we got there for cocoa bombs and a Christmas movie.

Kennedy making cookies for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve

Fabulous appetizer spread with margaritas for our Christmas Eve dinner

I gave Jackson this little outfit because I thought it looked like Charleston!

New Toys!

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas with Kennedy Part 2

Brittany treats Kennedy like her own little dolly. Constantly dressing her up for every occasion. You can only imagine how much more so on Christmas weekend! :)

Winter morning at Hickory's newest park

Embroidered nativity on her beautiful Christmas Eve dress at church

Opening a special gift from her parents on Christmas Eve in a beautiful box they'll use every year: Reindeer theme pjs, a book about a Reindeer who thinks he's a dog, a stuffed reindeer and little yogurt treats.

Putting out Christmas cookies and milk for Santa in her new jammies

Ready to open presents on Christmas morning

After church, headed out to deliver cookies to the Fire Department

And finally getting ready to go to our neighbors' for a big festive Christmas dinner party!

Wonderful Christmas made even more special by K and her parents' visit!

I just had to add this! If you ask Kennedy for a kiss, she'll lean in and "allow you" to kiss her forehead!

Christmas with Kennedy Part 1

Kennedy saw her first decorated tree this year at her other grandparents over the Thanksgiving holiday.

She's a great sport when her mom dresses her up for fun pictures!

Going to the Charleston Christmas Parade

A live nativity with her parents

And finally...FINALLY...coming to Hickory to spend Christmas with us!

Sharing the kids for the holidays.

Now that Brittany and Dan are engaged I guess it was inevitable that we’d have to figure holidays out. His parents live on the opposite side of the state and Dan usually only gets a couple days off at a time so it would be tough for them to come to both parents.

We started talking about it before Thanksgiving; a holiday we spend in Chicago with my family. Brittany hasn’t joined us for the past two years due to work and her two dogs, but so far we’ve always spent Christmas together.

Maybe it’s because I was thinking about that that Thanksgiving seemed so sentimental to me this year.

John had business in Louisville and a Chicago suburb the couple days leading up to the holiday so he drove and I tagged along. Checking into the hotel room the first night I saw the laundry/dry cleaning lists hanging in the closet and had a flashback of Brittany playing office at hotel room desks. She’d line up the phone, collect all the little pads of paper and pens and then pretend she was taking orders on the laundry lists and leaving messages for co-workers on the pads.

I also remembered that no matter where we were for Thanksgiving we’d try to be home Saturday night so we could roast our own turkey Sunday (for leftovers), decorate our house and then after dinner give one gift to “kick off the season”. (Usually something we could use during the holidays.)

At my sister’s house I saw Brittany running around as a little girl in my niece, Madison. My mom had Christmas ornaments with Brittany’s name on them. When Brit was little and I was working full time we’d send her to see my mom and sisters for two weeks in the summer. The first time she flew by herself at age seven I was still standing staring at the jet way she had walked down when the pilot opened his window and lifted her part way out to wave to us. I hadn’t cried up to that point, but then I couldn’t stop! It didn’t get any easier over the summers sending her off, but I loved that she grew up knowing my family on her own; not just when I was there. She has a wonderful relationship with all of them.

When we got home we discussed Christmas again. Brittany offered to come see us and have Dan go see his folks. But this is their engagement year and I would never want to do that. Instead John and I offered to drive to Charleston a few days before and come home Christmas Eve morning when they’ll drive to Dan’s folks.

I’m convinced that we’ll try a few things that will work and others that won’t, but we’ll eventually look back at these next few years as fondly as we do the past ones.

And what more can one hope for the holidays?

Christmas Traditions

Brittany will be home for 5 days over Christmas and I’ve been planning how to make every minute perfect. (Christmas is all about faith, right?)

She has often let me know how important traditions are to her. Usually after I’ve forgotten one. I googled tradition for some help. An article in Christianity Today, said, “Big or small, traditions add richness to our lives. They give us common ground with others. They give us touch points, times and events to remember fondly. They help us feel secure when things around us aren't. Tradition is about creating a safe haven away from the world.”

I thought I’d better ask her which Christmas traditions were really important to her, so I didn’t mess up.

She emailed me back that she loves making rosettes, which I’ve done every year since before she was born. From the time she was about 10 until she graduated from high school she took over the frying part while I powdered them with sugar. Every time someone mentions rosettes it reminds her of the small burn scar on her wrist. In fact I’ll bet she just stopped reading this to look at it again. Right, Britt?

Anyway, we can’t do that together this year because I’ve already made them. I needed them to take to Christmas parties weeks ago.

Her next favorite tradition she said is the Dessert Open Houses I had. Note had. I haven’t done one in about 4 years. The baking consumed the entire month of December so now I am all about volunteering to host the potlucks for different groups I’m in!

The next tradition she mentioned was putting up the Christmas tree together the Sunday after Thanksgiving, having a holiday meal, movie and one gift to kick off the season.

She had to work over Thanksgiving, so John and I went to my relatives in Chicago.

So far I was striking out. I thought I might borrow a tradition from my family. One of the things I remember the most while growing up was my mom color coordinating my sisters (twins) and me (11 months younger). She never had to put a tag on a gift because Debbie’s gifts were always wrapped in red, Barb’s in blue and mine in green. Our pajamas were white with the appropriate color buttons; our bikes were white with the appropriate color handlebars. There was never a question about what belonged to whom!

The only problem with that was I got really sick of green. And Brittany’s an only child.

I got back online and finally found what I was looking for. On a site called AskMen.com a Mr. Mafioso wrote about holiday traditions: “Ultimately it’s about coming home.”

So maybe we’ll just make a really great cup of coffee on Christmas morning and open our stockings and gifts. We’ll all stuff the turkey and get it in the oven, go for a walk, call all of our relatives, have dinner and play a game.

Because that’s what we always do.

It’s our tradition.

A Short Christmas Visit

Brittany had a month off over Christmas, but because she works at the hotel in Dillsboro, she was only home for 6 days. Both John and I were ordered to take the 6 days off to play with her and give her undivided attention the whole time.

2 nights before she came home she called us from work to share that the hotel lobby was overrun with little kids in pajamas and robes who were going on the Polar Express. (The train that runs between Dillsboro and Bryson City was having a Christmas theme ride.) John and I picked up the phone at the same time, which of course delighted Brittany. Two parents for the price of one!

After she had chattered on for about 20 minutes, she interrupted herself and said, “Where did Dad go?”

“I’m here.” He said.

“Then why did you just text me?” She asked.

“Because I couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”

It is a little hard to compete with 2 Geiger women in the talking department!

She arrived home in the middle of the night Christmas Eve. I knew she was here when I got up because when I went out to get the newspaper I tripped over 6 pairs of shoes. (One for each day of her stay?) It’s interesting to me that the only time John leaves his shoes at the door is when Brittany’s home. All week long I was climbing over shoes! After she went back I had to retrain him again.

One time I walked by the kitchen counter and Brittany had her cell phone and her ipod charging. Later I went by and there were two cell phones and 2 ipods charging.

I couldn’t resist. I added a 3rd set. Mine didn’t even need charging, it just looked like fun.

We had a great week and luckily she made it back to school before it snowed there. Since she was scheduled to work at 7am both of the days they had snow the manager of the hotel insisted she stay there so she wouldn’t have to drive. He even let her bring one of her sorority sisters who was back and they had a great time with the indoor pool, hot tubs and watching movies.

Unfortunately one of the mornings as she was turning things on she set off the fire alarm at 6:55 a.m. Why she had to wake us up to tell us about it after waking up an entire hotel I don’t know. But, while she had us she did share how great it was to just walk downstairs to work.

We told her we’ve been doing that for 5 years and didn’t even have to get dressed!