Christmas Is All Around Me

Love Actually, anyone?

And now for the belated Christmas post.

(I figure I have until the end of the month to write about goals for 2009 and reflections on 2008. I had also promised additional Josh & Jessica stories in December, which is the anniversary of our engagement, but forgot about that completely. So I'll work on that this month, too. January = my grace period.)

One of the blessings and challenges to married life is the need for two Christmas celebrations.  The drawback is that we can't spend Christmas Day with both families at the same time.  We're on an every other year rotation around here.  The benefit is that we get to celebrate Christmas with family twice. And that is enjoyable.

This year we were in Vail, CO for Christmas Day, and celebrated it with Josh's parents, grandparents, and even the family dog. We took the day off from skiing, and spent the day playing cards, watching Marley & Me, and veg-ing out.  That evening we managed to put on appropriate clothes and go out for a nice dinner.

Josh's parents' dog, Nikki, all dressed up for the big day.

Josh & his parents in Vail Village before Christmas Dinner.
Favorite gifts?  Our ski trip, of course!  We had a blast.  Can't wait to go again.

And then onto Witte Christmas Extravaganza, a few days later in Grand Rapids, MI.  After flying from Denver to Chicago and driving up to W. Michigan, we enjoyed dinner and presents with my side of the family.  I wore pajama pants the entire day and it was definitely a good decision.  

My dad examining his new golf clubs.  Oooh... shiny.  My mom broke her cardinal rule of Christmas gift giving and actually let him pick them out the month before.  But she insisted on wrapping them for him anyway.

My mom sporting her coordinating scarf and hat, which she got from my dad to go with her new red vest.
My brother Ben with his new laptop, bought on an excellent Black Friday special.
Favorite gifts?  Chickens, a new coat (see skiing pictures) and an ornament that looks like Riley.  Josh got a Best Buy gift card that he has since used for a Slingbox.  I feel that another of Josh's reviews may be in order soon.

In terms of my Advent Conspiracy goals, I think we did okay. Our Christmas celebrations continued on into the next week with significant time spent with family and friends. I loved it all - the card playing, the puzzle-ing, the late night chats. Gift giving was completely joyful and stress-free, but the level of worship wasn't quite where I wanted it to be. Something to work on for next year. But I'm thankful for a great holiday season. Thankful for two loving families that want to celebrate with us. Thankful for an abundance of good food and fellowship.  Thankful for ornaments that resemble beloved brown dogs. Thankful most of all for a God that gave this world the gift of Jesus so many years ago.