Yesterday we wrapped up our fourth and last Christmas of 2018.
For seven Christmases it’s been just us 3 up in Seattle, and it’s been great. We always share Christmas Day together at home and make a lot of our traditional favorite foods. The day after, I often fly to Texas to spend the week between Christmas and my birthday with my family.
But this year, for the first time since we moved, we came home for the holidays. We planned extended travel time so that we could drive down and be here for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays, and beyond. It’s the first time we’ve been home for the holidays together since we moved, and the first time Benjamin and I have been home together at the same time in over five years.
After Thanksgiving (plus a couple of weeks) with my family, we traveled to spend Christmas with Benjamin’s family. We savored 3 Christmases with them, each with different (but overlapping) family groupings. Each gathering was all food and fellowship without the exchange of presents (except for the little ones) so it was super stress-free. We played games, ate delicious food, and enjoyed lengthy visits. It was *such a treat* to be with everyone.
Yesterday, as per my annual holiday routine, we came back to my parents for post-Christmas, New Year, and Birthdays (my sis-in-law (SIL) and I share birthdays one day apart!).We exchange small presents with my family, which range from handmade to practical to fun. This year more than one of us had the idea to give little LEGO sets, and I got us all a Nintendo Classic to share.
So we spent our day playing with Legos and watching each other play nostalgic Nintendo games. It was a Christmas straight out of Christmases past! When we were kids, a perfect Christmas consisted of Legos and Nintendo. Turns out that’s still what constitutes the perfect Christmas for these kids!
Things I want to be sure to remember:
Us four kids, ages 32-37, all in the floor playing with Legos before lunch and again through the afternoon. My brother and I also dug out some of our old Legos of yore and using those random pieces he master-crafted custom stuff straight out of his imagination until about 1am.
During the afternoon, we watched my brother own Megaman like he still plays it all the time when in reality it’s been more like 20 years since he’s played. My mom made popcorn and we sat and watched the impressive show as he steadily marched towards the final boss. Between me and my brother’s shared memories of the game, we remembered all the tricks to it, and he executed them impressively!
My mom played Super Mario Brothers for the first time ever and was so animated about all her missteps. It was so fun and funny to watch!
Amidst watching each other play Nintendo (and each of us playing it ourselves in turns) and as my brother continued to play with Legos well into the night, we all visited, Benjamin and my SIL worked on a jigsaw puzzle, and I read vintage cookbooks and took notes on recipes I want to try while my mom read a vintage 5th grade songbook I found a couple of weeks ago. We also pulled out my and Benjamin’s wedding album and then my parents’ album, and showed them to my SIL to give her ideas for what she wants for hers.
It was the perfect Christmas Day. My favorite people to share gifts with. Gifts that kept on giving all day long and late into the night such that we didn’t even realize how late it had gotten. Gifts that created the background noise for visits and stories and photo-reminiscences. Legos and [grown] kids spread across the living room floor like old times all under the glow of the Christmas tree.
Christmas this year was richly abundant in fellowship, food, and memory-making. I’ll remember the 2018 Christmas season for many years to come.