Christmas 2016

Everyone's saying it, but I have to agree: h o w is Christmas over already?? 😳 I can't believe how quickly the holiday season snuck up on us, and I can't believe how quickly it passed. This year Jordan and I decided to stay home in Colorado for Christmas instead of traveling back to Minnesota, and while we definitely missed seeing all our friends and family, I have to admit it was nice not having a jam-packed schedule and rushing around.

What's even more nice is my family flew out the week before Christmas to celebrate with us, and we had such a good time with them. Jordan took a day off work and we snuck up to Vail for a day on the mountain full of skiing/snowboarding and soaking in all that crisp mountain air. We celebrated Christmas with them that Saturday, which turned out to be perfect because it was FREEZING outside and was the perfect excuse to stay inside, drink hot chocolate and play with Sydney's new kitchen.

The week between my family leaving and Christmas was spent going to Jordan's work holiday party, seeing the Denver Zoo Lights, and cleaning, gift wrapping, grocery shopping and prepping for another family visit. Jordan's mom and middle brother and his family flew out to spend Christmas with us (and Jordan's youngest brother, who lives in Denver, decided to stay in town for the holidays as well), and it was so wonderful to spend Christmas with them out here.

Christmas with a packed house is every bit as crazy and wonderful as it sounds. Jordan's middle brother and his wife have a daughter who's almost exactly six months older than Sydney, so the girls entertained each other---for the most part (the other part was spent arguing over a doll, toy, marker, book, etc 😆), and they also have a 14-month-old son who gave me major baby fever. Living so far away from our family is really hard; it's especially hard having a niece and nephew and essentially watching them grow up via pictures and videos. I hate that we only get to see each other a small handful of times a year, so whenever we do get to see them, I try and spoil them with as many hugs and loves as I can.

We went on a Polar Express train ride through the mountains on Christmas Eve, and once again the magic, wonder and beauty I saw in Sydney's and my niece's and nephew's eyes were magical and adorable. I'd love to make this a Christmas Eve tradition because it was an evening most well spent! Christmas Day was an EARLY wake-up call from the kids, and we were opening presents before sunrise, lol.

 Waiting to give Santa her list 💖

I could not handle this scene; my heart positively exploded!! 😍😍😍

After the presents had been opened and a huge Christmas breakfast had been eaten, we took family pics and played some games and the kids took naps (🙌). We had more Andersons join us for Christmas dinner (fun fact: Jordan's best friend's last name is Anderson, and they are from the same city; they also were born only four hours apart, so their bassinets were right next to each other in the hospital---they've been best friends for literally their entire lives. Cute, right??), and it was everything I imagine Christmas to be: kids running around, laughter and conversation filling the air, holiday music in the background and the smells of Christmas, good food and baked cookies.

Need to sneak this picture in... As I was taking pics of Jordan and his brothers, Sydney kept asking me to take a picture of her. I kept telling her in a minute, and evidently she couldn't wait because she popped up in the front of the camera and started bouncing around saying, "CHEEEEEESE!!"

😂😂😍😍

This Christmas has definitely been our favorite so far, but I have a feeling they're just going to keep getting better. It's always the most bittersweet feelings that linger between Christmas and New Year's, but as wonderful as 2016 has been to us, I really can't wait to see what's in store for us in 2017.

Merry Christmas from the Andersons! We hope your holidays were filled with lots of love.