I heard that having Thanksgiving on November 22 will result in the LONGEST POSSIBLE CHRISTMAS SEASON. I was loving it! I secretly always wanted to have my Christmas tree up early, so by having Thanksgiving on the 22, I felt like I was finally getting my way this year. I put my Christmas decorations up on Thanksgiving Day and our tree to follow the Saturday after.
Kaitlyn was hilarious about the decorating. She had been running a fever all day, so instead of joining us for turkey, she stayed home with one of us during our Thanksgiving shifts. Decorating was the highlight of her day. Kaitlyn fell in love with Santa that night; "Ho-ho." Everything delighted her but nothing more than some silly Santa suit stockings that she insisted she wear like a real "ho-ho" suit. When she found the hats, she was in heaven; she had her new costume of the month. After a week or so of wearing the Santa stocking, I decided an actual Santa costume would be better for her. Kaitlyn was dressed as Santa the rest of the season... still is. :-/
Our season was filled with a lot of fun times. For one, we did our second Annual Munn Family Christmas Party at Mom's house in Springville. It was so great to get together, enjoy a meal, play some games, and see the kids light up when they saw Santa Claus in person.
Another fun and memorable night was doing our yearly Christmas light drive through the nearby cities. This year we made the activity more fun by adding a scavenger hunt. Ellie was proud and frustrated she got all but two; note to self - have a Grinch and Charlie Brown yard decoration someday for future scavenger hunters.
We also visited Santa, helped Nana decorate her Christmas tree, decorated sugar cookies, delivered neighbor gifts, David come out to Utah, went to the yearly Burrows Christmas party, and Ellie and I played in Mom's Christmas piano recital.
As for Christmas Eve... We had a wonderful meal with Mom and the LaTurner side, and then met Mom and Dad Munn at the cemetery to light luminaries for Grandma and Grandpa Underwood. Momma Munn made us some coordinating pj's to wear Christmas Eve. They were comfortable, cute, and warm.
Ellie wasn't allowed to wake us up until 7:30 - seemed fair to us, but then again we thought we would be in bed sooner. 7:33, Ellie woke us up. She was very cute about it. "I let you sleep in," she said. The extra three minutes were really wonderful, haha. I have to admit though, it was hard sleeping with the wonderful smelling slow cooker breakfast casserole cooking all night. Sometimes I joke that Thumper can smell food because he/she is always active around the smell or presence of food. We both didn't sleep that night.
After breakfast, Kaitlyn woke up and we dug in our presents. It was really fun to see the kids open their gifts. It was fun for me too because I had forgotten many of the gifts I got the girls! I started shopping in September and so watching them was almost like seeing them for the first time. The girls got so many things on their wish list. We all were blessed this year.
Later that night, we hosted our first official all out Christmas dinner. Shayne roasted a tasty turkey, and I made many dishes ahead to be warmed in crock pots. It wasn't as stressful as I expected either. Although I am not signing up next year just yet, I think another Christmas dinner may be in our future.
Overall it was a wonderful Christmas. It was unusual and special also because it was our first time staying home all day. Normally we do "the rounds" and visit all the families throughout the day. I loved staying home. It felt right and so so much less stressful. I hope to make staying home more of a regular thing while the kids are young.
As a side note; can you believe we will have another Munn next Christmas?!
So there you have it - our Christmas 2012 summed up. We look forward to next Christmas and more fun memories! I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas.
