Christmas = actively relaxing

We spent this Christmas in Northern Virginia with my family, and we visited with a lot of people and did a lot of fun activities, but there was no pressure, no timeline, and we got plenty of rest, which made it actively relaxing. We kicked off our Christmas celebration on the 23rd with a nice evening at Mom's. We enjoyed a fine dinner of steak & potatoes, watched Riley & Lola rekindle their love for one another, and laughed at Steve's giddiness over his new hiking backpack.

Christmas Eve had more emphasis on the relaxing part of my title. We baked, lounged, watched movies, napped (Nat, our Snickerdoodles were the bomb!). The party began around 6pm over at my cousins' house where most of my mom's side of the family gets together annually for crazy games and presents. This year, games included Left Right Center, Mad Gab, and a version of White Elephant. I personally got enough entertainment out of my younger cousin Anthony, age 4, shirt off most of the night, who thought everything was "totally awesome" especially his dual light sabers, which he has already used to terrorize his sisters. Also, I got a good ab-laughing in during Mad Gab as Ryan repeated over and over "Shirley Huge Chest" ...Surely You Jest? Oh boy. Overall, restful day, eventful night, a Christmas Eve to remember.

Christmas Day was sweet. It was a real joy to fix my thoughts on the miracle and wonder of the birth of Jesus many years ago. There is no sweeter gift than that of a Savior who came, lived, died, and rose for me. Because of this, we celebrate. Jesus is the reason why we get up to have blueberry pancakes and sausage, why we give and receive gifts (or "cold hard cash" as Shannon likes to say), why we travel to gather with family, why we decorate our homes and Christmas trees, why we drink cocoa & eggnog and eat ham & pumpkin cake! Again, it gave me great joy to remember the purpose behind the traditions as we partook this season. From breakfast at the Lobis, to coffee, stockings, and gifts with the Dempsey-Szotts, to dinner at Nana's, Christmas, like I said, was sweet.

The highlight of our remaining time in NoVa was the Caps game! Steve, Ryan, Mike, and I had the hockey experience of our lives thanks to the hook-up from Steve Fogel. We're talking 2nd row from the ice, 1 row behind Pat Sajak (Wheel of Fortune), and within arms length of bodies smashing up against the glass! Amazing. Go Caps! Rock the Red!