Christmas Eve

Mom didn't want to put up a tree this year.  Bah Humbug!  I brought Grandma Marilyn's tree up from my basement, drove it to Ankeny, and set it up in Mom's living room while she was at work.  The boys and I went to Target and bought ornaments and lights.  The tree included some of our favorite characters.  Mom loved the tree and cried when she saw it (I hope due to her love of the tree and that we decorated it as opposed to crying because it looked like two children and their sleep-deprived mother decorated it!)

After decorating the tree, I ran some errands and met Dave for church at 

St. Paul.  We always go to a candlelight service, but this year we went to an earlier one due to schedules.  I kept waiting for the lights to go off!  Funny what we get used to.  After the service we went back to Dani's for dinner and presents.  Thankfully my mom saved us a few bacon-wrapped water chestnuts!  They were amazing, and there were only six left when we arrived.  We had mini ham balls, taco dip, little smokies, chips, and cheesy potatoes.  Everything was delicious!

We enjoyed some festive drinks.  Peppermint schnapps, chocolate vodka, and cream over ice.  Pretty much we were all ready for bed by 7:15 ;)

Craft time with Aunt Dani.  I was impressed!!

We had a really nice evening.  I think everyone was kind of dreading 

Christmas Eve without Dad.  A change of scenery definitely helped.

We packed up and went back to sleep at Mom's new house.  Mom and I spent a while sitting by the tree, talking about how much we miss Dad and Grandma Bev.  This has been such a whirlwind of a year.  I never could have imagined all the changes we've experienced since July.   We both agreed the new house felt right. Christmas at McKinley drive without Dad would have been awful.  Thankful that things worked out for us to be somewhere fresh and new to begin this new chapter of our lives.  We're working on making this new place "home" for everyone.  So far we are off to a good start.