Well, what's better than a Christmas post in January? Considering I was a complete slacker in December, this is the best you're going to get!
Our first Christmas celebration was here in Clifton. The city holds an annual event called A Stroll Through Christmas, which shuts down Main Street and turns it in to a winter wonderland. Storefronts are decorated, lamp posts are adorned with snowflake lights, and the streets are lined with luminaries. This year a giant tree was added to the festive decor, including a tree lighting ceremony to kick off the event.
Sadly, this year's event was overshadowed by the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. I won't get into my rather intense beliefs about gun control on the blog, but the deaths of so many children and educators garnered immense sympathy from our little city. Mike began the tree-lighting ceremony with a moment of silence for the victims. Some folks from the Rotary Club put together a memorial right on Main Street, which served as a silent reminder throughout the festivities of what we should really be thankful for this Christmas season.
The Clifton Tree stood about 30 feet tall. Light cascaded to the ground, creating the outline of tree against the night sky. When the Mayor and Rotary President plugged it in during the lighting ceremony, gasps, oohs, and aahs could be heard throughout the crowd. Rockefeller Center, eat your heart out. (bark out?)
Each evening ended with singing in the Presbyterian Church on Main Street. The Church was built in the 1800's and survived the burning of the city during the Civil War. The church was beautifully decorated and everyone held candles while singing Silent Night and other Christmas hymns. It was the perfect way to start the season!
The weekend immediately before Christmas, Mike and I drove up to Kentucky to have Christmas with his family. We had so much fun hanging out with his parents and spending time with his aunts, uncle, and cousins. I'm not sure why, but I didn't take ANY pictures while we were there. Fail.
We flew to my parents house on Christmas Eve and went to Mass. As per tradition, we took photos in front of the Christmas tree before Mass, but since no one knows how to properly focus my camera, only the ones that I took came out without being completely blurry. Haha!
Of course, pretty Lady had her Christmas bow on and she was a wonderful model ;)
My Dad is a deacon in the Catholic Church and was ordained when I was a teenager. Since then, Christmas morning has been the epitome of relaxing. Dad usually covers the 8AM Christmas morning mass and sometimes helps at the 9:30AM mass too. That allows us at home to sleep in and ease into the morning, rather than wake up early and ready to rip presents apart. I love it - it's low key and allows me to get a cup of coffee before all the excitement. Although now that we're older, we're pretty laid-back and no one is chomping at the bit to open presents, haha.
We always hang the stockings on the banister and this year, we had Mike's mom embroider us some new ones. They are by far the best stockings we have ever had. Good job, Tonya! :)
We always spend Christmas morning at my parents house, opening presents and having breakfast and mimosas (obviously!). Then we all pack into the car and head to my grandparents house in New Jersey. This year was no different, except that there was an obvious and tough absence. My sweet Poppie passed away in the spring. We all miss him terribly. Christmas was really fun though, we got to hang out with my cousin Julia and her boo Matt (who is Mike's bff). It was great to see them, we used to see them all the time when we lived in Virginia.
We also went to visit my Great-Gram in New Jersey. She's going to 89 years old this month and she's still sharp as a tack. We took her to the Olive Garden (in the snow!) and had a lovely lunch with her. It was the first time Mike met Gram and he thought she was hilarious. She enjoyed him too. It was so good to see her!
We spent lots of time playing in the snow with Lady and enjoying each other's company. Lady is the craziest snow-doggy, I just love her!
We celebrated our one-year anniversary (more on that in a separate post) and then rang in the New Year with my parents, Karagh, Lady, and Grandma. Our holiday was filled with family, fun, and lots of food! We traveled from Tennessee to Kentucky to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, back to Kentucky and then back to Tennessee. It was crazy! Time to ring in the new year by getting back into the swing of things and moving! :)
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