I took my person holiday today because I knew I would need the extra time to get everything ready for Christmas, since we were hosting Christmas and no one was going to be at work anyway. I went to bed too late last night trying to finish a few things.
The next morning mom woke me up early so we could go into town and finish present and grocery shopping. We had to go to the post office. I had a card that had to go to Canada but needed special postage. I get off of work too late to get to the post office during the week. We decided to spend the day in Lacey and got to Shopko, Winco, Walmart, Costco, Best Buy and Sports Authority. We got it all done before 4 p.m. Sadly, I always know what my Christmas presents are going to be.
Now to head home, wrap the rest of the gifts, clean the important rooms, shower and pass out.
I had to get the presents wrapped before Doug and Jen showed up. They were almost to Federal Way when I was half way done with the presents. Jonas helped me wrap presents.
I vacuumed the floors while clothes were washing and drying. Mom made cookies and got dinner prepared. I got dad motivated to put all of his train and gun stuff away into his bins he purchased the other day...mostly to keep the rats out of it. I got everything cleaned up in the dining room, the cat box, swept the floor, mom did some mopping while I cleaned the bathroom. As I cleaned the bathroom Doug and Jen arrived. They dropped their stuff off in the room and we all had some food. I did a few other things before we convinced dad to open gifts. For some reason EVERY year around the same time we have the same argument. We always open presents from our immediate family on Christmas Eve...why would it be any different? Everyone met in the "Christmas" room and we opened our presents.
I got a green Seahawks sweatshirt, a black vest and a canvas Ninja Turtle picture to hang on the wall. The last time I was surprised with my gifts was when mom got us all Kindles a couple years ago, before that...probably middle school.
Mom cleaned the kitchen one last time before we all crashed and went to bed. I took a shower, talked to Ben and hit the bed hard. I was so tired.
Christmas Day
Mom and dad got up earlier than the rest of us. I think I actually crawled out of bed around 8:15...about the same as Jen. We had to pry Doug out of bed just before everyone got there. Jen helped mom in the kitchen and I moved all the cars to the bottom of the hill. I thought I did a pretty good job.
Everyone got there around 9 and the food was done and ready to be eaten. Ben was one of the first people to arrive. We all sat down at the table and had some of the tator tot casserole and fruit. We ate and visited for about an hour.
Then it was time for presents!! We gathered into the "Christmas room" and sat down. Dad passed out presents this time. I took some pictures. We continued to pick names and only buy for one person with a limit of $50. This year I had Erika but it was changed to Jen because Jen was added to the list when we met her in March. Jen was really easy to buy stuff for and I had no problems.
Grandpa had me and I got a Seahawk shirt, a plastic bin, a spatula, chap stick and some money to cover the rest. Ben and I got each other Seahawk jerseys a few weeks ago and decided to wear them instead of opening them on Christmas. He also gave me a Seahawks blanket. I made him a painted Sounders wall hanger, a toy fire truck and some Seattle Skyline socks.
Then we had an all out paper throwing brawl. I got one full force in the eye but I got Doug back with one to the throat, muhahaha!
We cleaned up and helped people take their stuff to their cars. Grammie and Grandpa's truck didn't want to start so I offered the Escape to them for the afternoon since I was going with Ben to Seattle for Christmas dinner at his aunt's house. This was the first time I've actually left the area that far for Christmas. We got into Ben's car with all of the stuff we would need for the evening.
We headed up and made a quick pit stop at his aunt's house in South Hill to see his grandma. We never get to see her anymore with Ben's busy schedule. We snacked, received a bunch of cards, gift cards and engaged in some visiting. Ben's uncle Dave gave me a hard time about my Christmas letter and asked if I always tell people my life story. I just recap of what happened that year. We were there about and hour and then had to say our goodbyes. We had to start heading our way up to Seattle.
We got on the road and texted Trish on what exit we should look for. She gave us the wrong exit number and we had to turn around and head back the other way. She lived north of where Doug used to. We parked the car on the street, grabbed everything and headed into the house. Her house reminded me of the house I lived in off of D Street in Pullman. It was a turn of the century house and still had it's original door knobs and windows. It was really cool.
I had met Jean two other times before. It was nice to meet her in her own environment. I still think she's hilarious. She made ham, sweet potatoes, veggies, bread, cookies, etc. We had beer, they had wine and sparkling cider. It was different than I was used to but it was fun. It was nice to visit with Ben's extended family we don't get to see very often. We ate food, chatted about random things and opened gifts. Aunt Jean gave me some peppermint bark and an angle ornament which later after we looked at it was a ginger! Lol! Ben got a snow globe made out of a Mason jar. It was really creative. We took some pictures together next to her tree.
We got our stuff together and said our goodbyes. It was fun spending Christmas with Jean at her house. We all headed back to Trish's house, unloaded the cars, watched some TV and headed to bed. I was tired. It was a long eventful day.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Next Adventure: Elf on the Shelf Recap
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