Day 9 Christmas Countdown 2022
Hello and Happy Friday!!! We are in Day 9 of our countdown, can you believe it?
This week has been fun and full of activity for us.
Our kiddos took their dream trip to see Disney at Christmas and we have loved the photos every day. I hope they come home!!! They are having a blast and while this trip was delayed from 2020 interruption, the constant message is that the kids are the perfect age to enjoy it.
Russ and I took advantage of the freer schedule to sneak in a trip to Nashville. We had a great time and were able to see two concerts.
We got home in time to unpack and head downtown to help at Tournesol with the Christmas Walk.
Yesterday had its own fun schedule and now today I am off to work again, followed by the ladies Christmas event at church afterward.
The holidays keep us going and really the rest of the year seems to buzz by at a clip of activities so as I think about Christmas memories, this one makes me sigh with relief and smile deeply.
At some point when our three were entering or in the middle of their teens, depending on the child, Russ got the idea to take us all out to a nice restaurant here in town one evening during the month of December for a special dinner.
We dressed up and if anyone had a significant other, they got invited too. It was a new thing to sit around the table with kids who weren’t ordering chicken fingers or me trying to figure what I could order so they could eat off my plate.
It was fun to sit with them and visit and enjoy the restaurant all decorated for the holidays. After they all got busy in other cities, and our time to be all together was filtered down to a few hours on Christmas Eve (plus adding a few little ones along the way), the tradition retired.
I actually had been thinking about it so fondly as I was jotting down things to share with you and over Thanksgiving, Sarah mentioned that she would like to try and do a dinner date like the old days.
It did my heart good to know that memory is shared. I know the other two remember it as well and it makes me so happy that Russ thought it up and made it happen for a few special years in our family celebrations.
We have to remember, or at least I do, that “traditions” are fun additions to deepen the meaning of our celebration at Christmas. While the reason for the season is always the birth of our Savior, these family gatherings and things we do together are rich with meaning as well.
Sometimes they are a short season and we have to be careful to not hold them too tightly and always make room for change.
I am hoping we can make it to the Lou and meet up Sarah and Jack for a new tradition, but even if it is ‘only in my dreams’, it’s a treasure. <3
Hope you have a happy Friday.
Hope you get to dress up and do something special this weekend with the people you love.
See you tomorrow <3