Christmas Time

The Christmas season is officially over! Holidays can be a whirlwind, so their end is always a little bittersweet. It’s nice for the busyness of the season to start to calm, to take a breath and recollect ourselves, but it’s always sad to see them go. We love Christmas in our house, and I always look forward to the many traditions we’ve created in our family over the years. The time we spend together, the time we spend with our friends and family; it’s something I look forward to most about the holiday season, so I wanted to give you a little window into what that looks like!

It’s important to note that the Christmas cheer starts VERY early in our family, with the bulk of our decorations going up the first week in November. I think if Taryn had her way they might go up the minute the leaves begin to change, but you have to draw the line somewhere and our Halloween decorations need their time to shine too! Throwing on our favorite Christmas music playlist, singing along, and putting up the decorations together as a family is always a blast. There’s no shortage of laughter and silliness in our house, and this time of year is no exception. Decorating the Christmas Trees (yes, trees plural, we have 4 of them) however, is no laughing matter. Taryn takes her craft of tree decoration very seriously and it shows in the masterpieces she creates, she’s a true professional. With the Halls properly “decked”, we spend the lead up to the holiday watching our favorite Christmas movies. There’s so many on the list of our must-watches, that this year I decided to make a spreadsheet so we didn’t forget any. Did I mention how cool we are? 

The biggest event in our holiday season is Taryn’s family Christmas Eve party, a massive and lively celebration that’s been a longstanding tradition in her family for decades. There’s always more delicious food and treats than you could ever want, or could possibly eat. This year, a few personal highlights were the traditional Beef On Weck sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, cupcakes made by Taryn’s mom (you can’t ever go wrong with her baked goods), and a “Hot Cocoa Dip” that Taryn made. After everyone has adequately carbed up, it’s time for the main event, the annual Christmas Game. While the game and who designs it changes every year, one thing is always a constant: the level of competition is high! This year was a combination of Minute to Win It style games (not my strength) and some Christmas Movie/Song Trivia (definitely my strength). Getting the whole family in one room, laughing, and just being together is a wonderful thing. It was one of the things that struck me when I first became a part of Taryn’s family, the sense of closeness and connection. The night ends, as it often does, with more casual (though still competitive) games in the basement, where Taryn’s Aunt and Uncle have shuffleboard, pool, and card games. Our favorite is always shuffleboard!

In the last few years, Christmas Day has transitioned over to our house, where we host a holiday breakfast and gift exchange with Taryn’s immediate family (My family is a little more spread out around the country, so we tend to see them at different times of year when things are less busy!). I love to cook, so I’ve grown to enjoy this new tradition quite a bit. This year we decided to do “breakfast appetizers,” with a menu featuring Egg and Cheese Breakfast Rolls, Hashbrown Cups, and Coffee Cake Muffins (another stellar baked good by Taryn’s Mom). It brings me so much joy to make a meal for my family and to have them enjoy it, especially on a special day like this. Afterward, we exchange gifts together before parting ways for the day to go to next destinations, or in our case: clean, have a few phone calls with family out of town, and watch a few Christmas movies.