I'm back for my third post in 2021 with a little Christmas recap! I did a little reading of old posts and I realized how much I used to blog and how it is such a nice reminder of the little things we did as a family. It is hard as I share so much more on instagram these days, but only in stories and those are so fleeting.
Thinking over the month, it was a really great month. I went into it with quite a bit of anxiety, but quickly realized that Christmas is just one day. There is nothing that says you have to celebrate it every day for a month or have your decor up the month before Thanksgiving. Nothing is wrong with celebrating it the way it is meant to be: the Christ Mass. I tried to keep this in mind as I went through the season, remembering my favorite part is my whole family gathered together for the special Christmas Eve service. Everything else is just details. :)
Another thing I did was do my decor a bit at a time. I even saved some things to be brought out only the day before Christmas Eve. It made it feel more special and less cluttered around the house. It was nice to place some special things out after the house was clean and organized at the beginning of break.
I really like this special ornaments tree that is getting more full by the year! It is special to look at and the kids had a fun time pulling our special ornaments out and placing them in their spots.
I made one critical error in preparing for Christmas and that is I waited too long to get my wreaths and outdoor planters. Menards was sold out of their nice things and so I had to go to Earl May where I paid double what I usually do. I'll remember that for next year.
We spent Thanksgiving day at my brother's house with his family and my sister. It was so nice to spend time with them and especially nice to only have to prepare a few side dishes. The girls play so nice together! I hope they end up treasuring their special cousin time together. The rest of the weekend was spent going to the ISU game with Michael (he had a blast even though he claimed he "hated football"- even he was singing along at halftime and cheering on Breece Hall), and an afternoon downtown with the girls for Disney on Ice. We had an early dinner at Spaghetti Works and had fun walking in the sky walk. Our seats were the cheapest I could buy and they were actually very good! The girls are so excited to start skating lessons in January. We also saw the new Ghostbusters movie on Thanksgiving evening- a fun tradition! 
Grandma Margie came for a weekend to see Michael in action at the new RecPlex in West Des Moines. She bought Michael his new skates and gear for his birthday and Christmas so she wanted to see a good return on her investment. :) He is really enjoying hockey this year and I'm glad it is something Scott and him do together.
Michael helped me out by being an usher at my December CIWE concert. he did such a good job and the elderly people loved him! I also traveled with West Music in Iowa City to pick out my NEW flute- a Miyazawa. It is lovely and so much to play on. I am very lucky and have already practiced more in a few weeks than I have in the past few months.
Scott and I snuck out for a date night and it felt so festive in December, especially going downtown. Drinks and music at the Surety lounge, and then dinner out at Fresko. It was nice to have a nice, adults only!
We went to the 5pm service at Hope Grimes and then headed to Denise's afterward for Christmas Eve festivities. It was a lot of fun and I am so thankful for Denise for hosting. It was the perfect evening.
I did get festive with my charcuterie wreath and Christmas fruit. I'll have to add those my yearly traditions, especially since Scott told me he didn't like my meatballs. :(
The kids saw Santa at Coral Ridge mall this year, as they went when I was picking out my new flute. They had fun! The mall was very busy the Saturday before Christmas.
We ended our Cyclone football season with a loss in the Cheez It Bowl. It was a fun excuse to have friends over to chat, eat, and drink during the game. We were disappointed that Brock Purdy's career as a Cyclone ended so poorly but it was one heck of a ride. The past four years have been awesome, especially riding the covid wave. I know visiting Dallas for the Big 12 championship will always be a memory, especially once Texas and Oklahoma are out of the conference. Luckily we are Cyclones- loyal, forever true.
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