Two major thoughts hit me this past week as we gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with our kiddos.

1. This what is most likely the last time our children will be coming to our home to celebrate the holidays. With Mollie and Hudi moving out west this summer, it’s going to make much more sense for us to fly out there to join them all in the future.
2. This is my first year officially being on the list of those who might be in danger of getting run over by a reindeer. Chris and Hudi say they will do their best to avoid any reindeer hits on me. Just in case, though, I’ll go a bit easier on the eggnog 😉

There aren’t a lot of exciting things to write about because it was all so delightfully experiential. From ping pong to calls with loved ones to general yakking — turkey to eggnog to pancakes — all combined with lots of love — it was a beautiful celebration. I’m super thankful.

Chris and I both enjoy celebrating holidays, but aren’t sticklers for the holiday being on the actual date expected by humanity. This worked out well for us since Mollie had to work Thanksgiving day. For the past few years, the kids celebrated Thanksgiving with us then we decorated the house and celebrated Christmas before they head home. That way they could travel and visit other relatives for the actual Christmas holidays.

We had the same plan for this year, but Chris and I did the decorating ahead of time since Mollie had to work Sunday as well. Their visit was short and sweet.

Chris and Mom hit the stores Tuesday and got some great deals. My hat is off to them. Mollie brought an amazing apple crisp, as well. I contributed steamed cauliflower with sauteed garlic (mashed potato replacement) and squash (and some pumpkin stuff nobody wanted to eat, haha).

Mom Pollock rocked the turkey making on Thursday after she and I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We cleaned and decorated and made more yummies so cooking would go easier the next day — then settled in to watch my favorite Alvin and the Chipmunks film while we waited for the young adults and Star to show up. The intrepid souls appeared a bit after 3 am on Friday morning, just as the rain was turning to ice. We were so thankful they made it safely.

We celebrated Christmas in the morning so we wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally spilling gift secrets. We were given a back massager that can travel with us and some super yummy Ring Dings 🙂 Then we settled in for our annual tradition of watching movies, with many pauses as we talked with family on FaceTime and took a break for the Thanksgiving meal. Holidays in reverse 🙂

Some of my favorite pictures from the time together include:

Zeb’s lizards putting on fancy poses during our FaceTime yak.

Mom looking really happy.

And Hudi and Mollie goofing around (like always) and showing their love for each other.

There were moments of sadness as I realized this was probably an end of an era with the kids coming for Thanksgiving. It kind of felt like a gift that we were weaned off a bit with the young ones showing up a day after the actual holiday. All in all, however, I’m excited for them as they move on with their lives and embrace their own journeys. It is good.