Christmas 2013

I'd be lying if I didn't say we were all a bit anxious about this Christmas. We carried on with our usual traditions but at times it was slightly difficult. My mom did a beautiful job of making it another holiday to remember and we all felt blessed to be with those near and dear. 

Christmas Eve we celebrated with my uncle and his family. It was a nice evening but seemed quiet with only 17 people there! A couple families were with their other side for Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning we all met at my parent's house for breakfast. Almost everyone wore their Christmas Pjs and there were lots of presents to open. It was so fun to see all of the little ones (9 total but 6 under 5) open presents. They got so into opening them and checking out each others gifts.

Enjoy the pictures of the present opening madness!

I always have a favorite gift to give. This year it was a bracelet for my mom. We took a card my dad wrote to her and scanned it. We then had it printed onto a silver bracelet. It turned out so beautiful. She absolutely adores it.

The Rau Family Christmas Stairs Traditional Pic

After dinner at Mama's house we went to Tom's mom's house for another Christmas celebration. Connor was as sweet as can be and snuggled up to me a lot on Christmas night. (Sorry this is the only picture from that party)

We finished our Christmas sitting quietly in our Christmas light adorned living room. It was a lovely holiday indeed.

Some Good Times in December

December has come and gone so quickly. I have missed several opportunities to blog about fun December events. It was wonderfully busy yet also not overwhelmingly so. We had some downtime but also some fun activities planned. All in all it was a great month. Let's hope the rest of winter passes just as quickly :) 

One evening Tom surprised me with tickets to the Blues game. He got them last minute from work. We sat in the fourth row and also got all we could eat and drink. It was a fun little surprise and a great evening..despite the loss. 

 One evening Tj text and asked if we wanted to come over and hang out. I already had dinner prepared so instead he came to us. With TJ comes Baby Trey...one of my all time favorite dudes. He was particularly amused by my light up glasses.

My siblings helped their kids make Santa handprints and put them on a wreath. Here is the wreath and a poinsettia from mom at dad's burial site. I am sure he was smiling down at that special decoration from some of his favorite people.

Tom and I went to a friend's holiday gathering one evening. It was a great time with family and friends.

It is crazy to think the holidays have come and gone. I am still surprised how quickly they flew this year.