Our celebrations started with a trip to Lights of the South with Chris' family on Tuesday evening, December 22. James was in paradise-- "our trees", Santa, "pretty lights," and, of course, the entire Edwards crew that James rattled off on the trip down there. "Mommy! Laura! D! Mommy! Grace! Hannah! Mommy! Daniel! Ethan!" I need to record how he says their names because all too soon he will be pronouncing them correctly. He loves spending time with them, and as someone who grew up 500+ miles away from her family, I am thankful for, and cherish, the memories we make together.
On that note, Christmas continued the next day to what we are now referring to as "Christmas Camp." As a present to all their children, Chris' parents rented two cabins at Hard Labor Creek for the next two nights for us to have a little country Christmas. We had a blast hanging out, opening presents, making ornaments, decorating the tree (making the star for it, too!), decorating cookies, making s'mores in the fireplace (because it pretty much rained the entire time we were there!), singing Christmas carols, sitting on the back porch listening to the rain, resting and relaxing, drinking delicious french press coffee, eating a ton of delicious food (I seriously gained 5 pounds over those three days...), and celebrating a wonderful season together.
We parted ways on December 23, but Christmas was not over for us quite yet! On Christmas Eve, my mom came down in the morning so we could bake a birthday cake for Jesus. James helped us make the cake, finally getting to use a whisk for its actual purpose (no, they are not for slinging balls around the house...), and once it was done, he put on the topper (a little baby Jesus in the manger), sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and ate the cake. The topper has not been put away yet, and James will still grab it and show it to me and in his precious voice say, "Birthday! Jesus!" After the cake, we did the Throckmorton tradition of Honey Baked Turkey sandwiches for dinner before attending the Candlelight Service at Lifebridge. It was wonderful to see people I grew up with and getting to share this special part of Christmas with my boys. I plan to keep going back there as long as possible! When we returned home, James helped prepare chocolate chip cookies for Santa. We changed into our Christmas jammies, and we watched The Polar Express while the cookies baked. Chris had fun with James, running out to the front porch and pretending to be Santa, hollering, "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" James flipped out! He got all excited, exclaiming, "C'mon, Mommy! Santa!" as he pointed to the front porch. Once I knew Chris was off of it, I took James out and we looked out into the night. I continued egging him on, saying, "I see Santa heading towards Madison! He will be back with your presents when you go to sleep! How sweet of him to check in on you!" James kept pointing at the sky, saying, "Santa!" Once we went back inside, he proceeded to drag Chris and mom outside as well, equally enthused. Jenn and Daniel soon arrived and we opened our one present, continuing the Throckmorton tradition. We then all settled in for "our long winter's nap," reading "The Night Before Christmas" before tucking James in to his bed.
The one morning we actually wanted James to get up early, he slept in until around 7am. I had to go in there and wake him up, which didn't put him in the best mood until he realized Santa had come, and we could open presents. As we opened many magnificent and unexpected presents (including a fire pit for Chris and a Kuerig coffee maker for me!), a delicious breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls baked in the oven, a new tradition I would like to continue for next year! Church was a perfect way to celebrate Jesus, and we came home to baked potato soup and Honey Baked Turkey sandwiches. We all then parted ways, and we enjoyed another "winter's nap."
Jenn and Jackson then joined us on Monday, and James loved having his cousin around to play with. They were two peas in a pod, doing everything together. We even dropped them in the tub together, and I have never experienced a funner bath time. They splashed, squealed, giggled, and played together so sweetly. The second night, Jackson didn't even need a bath, but he wanted in the tub with James. When we came home on Wednesday and James woke up from his nap and realized Jenn and Jackson were gone, he was inconsolable. He cried for an hour. At bath time that night, he asked where Jackson was. He still asks for them!
This is definitely the best Christmas I have had since Daddy passed away. Now that the decorations are down and packed up and Christmas music put on pause until next year, holding on to these warm memories will help make the bleak and grey days of January and February a little bit brighter. :)
