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[#1]

This year we decided to really make Christmas last. Living 2000 miles away from family and friends we never get to see all our loved ones on the special day. We have also felt like the influx of gifts from states away, mainly for the kids, around the holidays added to the season, kind of loses its meaning. Not to mention when there is a huge pile of toys on Christmas morning, most 4 and 5 year olds just want to open them all instead  of pausing to appreciate what came from uncle Billy or grandma Sue.

So with a fall filled with visits from the family we decided to have a multitude of little Christmases in October so we could all be together in celebration of our Lords birth and also because, well, Christmas is just fun….all of it….why wouldn't we do it over and over again?

The first was with my best friend Riri and her family.  They were out here to baptize my Godsons and we had our selves a merry little Christmas the night before. We put a ten dollar limit on gifts for everyone but we really did up the wrapping and the food and the excitement. The kids adored their ten dollar gifts, which were mainly comprised of dollar bin gadgets at Target, and I got a gift card to my favorite taco shop and a box of my favorite sea salt caramels which I couldn't be any happier about! That was perhaps my favorite part of the entire event. Riri even got the kids all matching jammie for "Christmas night."

The added benefit of an early Christmas is no shipping.  In past years we have all spent more shipping each other gifts, then on the gifts themselves.  Not to mention the headache of the post office in December.  So we saved there too.

Christmas number two was the "Kutschka Christmas" with my dad and step mom. We always ask they don't do gifts for birthdays and Christmas but instead donate to the flight fund to get us out to see them in Palm Springs (which is the best Christmas present ever!) so they took care of our flights for March yippee! But the little girls love to open things so they got what they have been wishing for, hula hoops (both,) a crystal making kit (Georgia) and a kids camera (Grace.)  Mom and dad took us all out to dinner and we dressed up in our Christmas coats and finery.  We then came home and had a happy birthday Jesus cake and I put Christmas carols on the satellite radio. The weather cooperated with an unexpected cold snap and we all got cozy and enjoyed Christmas together.

The girls have adored playing with new presents over time instead of the indulgence of Christmas morning and this way we really get to be around our loved ones on a "holiday," when it hasn't been possible in so many years.

We had so much fun with our early Christmases that next year we are doing it again and I'm breaking out the tree! Why not I say? There is always room for a little more Christmas.  Especially if it’s something from Santa, himself!  I secretly signed up for a service called “Texts from Santa.”  Because the girls are too young for their own cell phones, I signed up for the service on my phone and added Georgia, Graces and Gourdies name to it, so they would actually be the ones receiving the texts!   You can sign up for this FUN service here >>> TEXTS FROM SANTA 

 

From my family far and near to yours... happy holidays.

xoxo

Kerstin