Twas The Night Before Christmas....

and all through the house there was so much food, family, and laughter,

and hopefully no mouse.

I can't believe it is already over.  I can't believe that I am already focusing on my New Year's resolutions. 

I can't believe that we STILL have so much food to eat.

I need a banana and a salad in the WORST way.

( Not sure exactly what that means - but it sounds extra dramatic)

Despite the whirlwind weekend, our Christmas was fantastic and so much fun! 

Which I attribute to good planning, a laid back schedule, plenty of sleep, and coffee.

The Christmas Eve festivities have been held at our house for the past four years.  This is when we get together with Kev's family to eat, drink, and be merry.

I was lucky enough to get this day off of work - and spent the day preparing food.

The infamous wedding donuts:

Dill dip with veggies and wheat thins:

Cheddar wafers served with sweet and spicy pecans, pimento cheese, and honey almond chicken salad ( my favorite from Publix!)

Tomato Bites!  ( Thanks for the recipe Rebecca!) I made them two ways - in baked wontons and in phyllo cups.

Antipasto Kabobs:

Pizza Bites:

And Kev's "Holiday Punch": 

Introducing "Festive Kev".  Similar to "Vacation Kev" but with a little more bling.

Big surprise of the night... Glenn surprised Mary with a fancy new camera!

And she got to open it before we officially got started so she could enjoy documenting the entire evening!

Being the only kid on Kev's side definitely has it's advantages!  Jayden received so many cool gifts.

With Kev's family, we draw names ahead of time....  And then we do another small gift swap where we draw numbers and fight for the best.

We ended up with several sentimental pieces from Kev's Grandmother, gift cards, cat food (?!?!) and an outdoor heater thingy that will allow us to have cookouts in the winter!

Some more pics...

Aunt Kim with Josh, Krystal and Jayden Young....

Mary, Glenn, and Jenn ( Kev's sister).

And, as usual, there were other family members that weren't documented.  Including myself.

We had such a great time as always!

Then every one left.  And for the first time in 40 years I was not spending the night at my parent's house.

I had no where to rush off to.

It was time for us to start a new tradition.

It was very bittersweet.  And strange.  And weird.

Our grown up lives have just gotten so busy and complicated and it has been getting harder and harder to get together - so we planned to meet on Christmas Day at 11am.  Which meant we all stayed in our own homes for the night.

Thank goodness for this....

My Mom and Dad recorded the story for me so I could listen to it any time that I wanted.

It was perfect!  And so special.  I loved it.

After listening to the book, we discussed what we should do.  And ultimately exchanging gifts with each other won out.

Kev surprised me with a Garmin.  For running!!  I cannot wait to use it!

Then we watched Christmas shows until we couldn't stay awake another second.

And fell asleep with visions of sugar plums ( or wedding donuts)  dancing in our heads.....

Up next:  Christmas Day!