Can we please completely and totally ignore the fact that I am writing my blog post about our Christmas... 4 months after Christmas.
I have no excuse.
This is just who I am as a blogger.
I mean... it just snowed again (in APRIL!) so... it's kinda Christmassy around here.
That counts.
And even if it doesn't... it's my blog. I do what I want! ;)
As I scowl at the freezing temperatures and snow outside right now, I am trying to think fondly back to a time of year where I actually enjoy snow! I really think I would like to live somewhere warm and comfortable for 11 months out of the year... and then just come to PA for Christmas!
In a perfect world.
We had so many Christmas festivities this year! For one, our good friends were home visiting from Arkansas!
Sadly though... we really only got to see them once, at Chocolate world. Because the day after Christmas I came down with the stomach bug, followed by Charlie, followed by Lucy! It basically consumed the entire week that our friends were visiting. That was a very, very sad Christmas surprise.
For Christmas eve and Christmas day this year we were with my family. As I've mentioned before, we rotate holidays between Greg's family and my family. So this year we headed to good old Bucks for a Manz-Family Christmas!
So once the chaos of packing, wrapping, cleaning, turning off the water, making sure the heat is set correctly and all of those MILLION of last minute checks before you can leave the house are done... we hope in that sweet minivan and make that PA turnpike trek to see all of the cousins and aunts and uncles and Omas and Opas!
That's when I start getting excited! :)
I do sometimes long to live closer. I wonder what it would be like to not have to pack up the entire world just to see my family for Christmas... or really at any time. What would it be like to just drive over there, and not schlep all our bags and pillows and toothbrushes. It's a silly thing to wish for and wonder about since it is not our reality, and that really is okay, but... I do still just wonder. That's all.
How cute are these 2 kiddos in their Christmas oufits?
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| Lucy doesn't smile normally. She does this weird smile in EVERY SINGLE PHOTO! Thanks, Lu. |
I wish I was better about planning outfits for holidays... this year it truly just fell into my lap! I went out on DECEMBER 22 to find them Christmas clothes... not recommended if you're wanting variety! :) But it was a great time for sales! Everything was so discounted, so it really did work out! I just can't get enough of these two all decked out for Christmas.
Christmas Eve we of course did church and then dinner and fellowship afterwards as a family. It's just so much fun being with my siblings and parents and having all those crazy kids running around. Being on this side of things is always surreal to me... I am not sure when I will get over it! haha I'm ridiculous. I remember with such fondness when it was us Manz kids running around with those Vogel kids and our parents were the ones standing in the kitchen sipping wassail and eating christmas cookies. But, being the adult and enjoying adulthood with your siblings and parents and watching your kids build those same memories is a pretty cool thing too. Not everyone can have this experience. Not everyone has good relationships with their parents or siblings. Not everyone lives close enough to get them together and build those memories. So for these moments, in spite of my missing those of Christmases past, I am thankful.
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| This right here is pretty much Me, Marji and Renee... it's creepy! :) |
Christmas morning has become much quieter over the years. It has gone through such transition! As kids it was my, the youngest, jumping on everyone's beds at 6:00 am telling them to get their butts up because it's Christmas morning and the tree layed 4,000 presents! This lasted well into my highschool years... and maybe college years! No shame.
We then transitioned to my siblings being married! Always an adjustment... because it meant some Christmases it was just me and my parents.... the nostalgic Melissa struggled with that for a long time. But when we were together - it was all of us, the originals and now the new in-laws! That was always fun. Then babies came... and the siblings, while the babies were young, still came early in the morning for breakfast and presents and spent the whole day!
Now... it's begun to shift again. Each family has their own traditions and special Christmas mornings. Which means... at the parent's house, it's quiet until about lunch time.
Things are just always changing, in life.
It was exciting to watch them experience some of that magic of Christmas!
The chaos ensued shortly after lunch as the Chez Manz was descended upon with 9 more kids and 6 more adults!
Just how I like it!
Full, loud and lively!
We opened gifts in shifts... because once the amount of grandkids grew past about 6... the chaos of gift opening needed some adjusting. So the littles opened first and then the big kids.
I just love to sit and drink it all in with my warm cup of wassail!
(though... some moments it does get a little overwhelming... not gonna lie!)
Christmas dinner has always been at my Dad's sister's house. The last few years we have moved it to my parents house to relieve my aunt of all that cooking... plus... it's just not right to bring 10+ kids and 8+ adults to someone's house for a meal! :)
So my Aunt and Uncle came to enjoy all that chaos just not in their own home!
Our tradition always includes German Spaetzle for dinner. Thankfully this year our German relatives were visiting for Christmas, so it was all the more authentic! Matt and Andy worked hard on those delicious noodles for... 21 people! There were ZERO left overs. We do not allow Spaetzle to be "left over", K?
Split between 2 tables we dined, drank, chatted, laughed and built memories.
God's gifts are too good.
This family. I am so thankful for this family. I am so thankful for their commitment and love for each other and for the Lord. I am so thankful that I get to be a part of it. I am thankful my kids get to be a part of it. The Lord is just so good!
The celebration is to remember HIS birth - and HE came into the world to save sinners... of which every person around our table is. And by HIS grace and thanks to HIS sacrifice we have had our hearts opened to the truth, to repent of our sin and thus be able to partake in his glory and his many, many good gifts! Family is an important part of this Christmas story - because it is yet another example of God's goodness to us!
It's April... But Merry, Merry Christmas! (Side note: I read somewhere that Jesus was probably born in April so... there's that!)
May the JOY of the Lord be your strength! And may your eyes behold His goodness and grace!
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