Christmas 2018

This post is really late, but you know what? The Christmas season absolutely flew this year and since we usually celebrate one or two times after the 25th, sometimes it would be impossible for me to post about all the happenings before January. I realize it's February now, but that's beside the point.

First of all, our turn for hosting church rotating potluck was October-December and since we were a bit busy in October it turned out to be closer to Christmas. Our sunroom is handy for hosting since it has a wall unit heater/AC and it's fun to have a reason to put that to work. We spent the evening sharing delicious food and somehow got onto the topic of cremation and burial sites which somehow resulted in some hearty laughs. Is it strange that I really enjoy Champaign potlucks?!

Our Christmas card this year was easy since the Waibel family got pictures taken for Dad and Mom's 30th. They got us all buffalo plaid shirts and so I didn't even have to worry about coordinating our outfits!

To decorate the house for Christmas I like to use fresh greens, preferably free ones. Since our landscape only offers two sources to cut from I may have gathered greenery from other people's yards. In Mahomet there's a service that comes around and collects sticks or leaves or whatever trimmings people leave by the road. When the opportunity would arise, I liked to snatch them before the village workers did. Sometimes this meant nonchalantly hauling a branch behind the stroller from the front yard two doors down. Another time it meant throwing the parking break on while jumping out at a stop sign to stuff some branches in my trunk since it was dark and the people's curtains were closed and nobody was else was driving on that road. After eyeing the branches for weeks it was finally the opportunity I had been waiting for! My other source was on Main Street where there was a sign that wood was free so I figured these branches counted. They were different than anything I'd had before and I was fairly unashamed to walk over with the loppers and fill my stroller basket. Someday I will embarrass my children but this year Lizah didn't seem to mind.

We gathered with the extended Waibel family in mid December. It was good to be together as we had to cancel the Thanksgiving plans last minute this year. Thanks to Hannah for these pictures. I guess I'm still kinda shy at popping out my camera with Seth's family.

The weekend before Christmas we were with my family in Michigan. It worked out really well to be at Jim and Maria's and I found myself being okay with letting go of some traditions that seemed to be such a part of Christmases past. Am I getting so old that what matters most is who I'm with? It was especially fun to meet Silas in person and not so fun to be reminded of how much my little girl had grown! 

2 months minus 3 days apart in age

Davy and his girls <3

Tickie, tickie, tickie!

Such a sweetie!

A specific example of a non-traditional way to celebrate was our sibling exchange. We included the parents and did a grab-bag type. Honestly, this wasn't my preference but it turned out to be really fun. There was everything from games and bluetooth speakers to hammocks and socks. Others seemed to enjoy it and I'm guessing it will be the way we exchange in coming years.

The weekend following Christmas we were with the Zehr extended family. Since Dad and Mom Waibel helped Grandpa and Grandma host us Waibels all showed up a little early. The Zehrs enjoy following a theme for the evening and this time it was centered around "Old Fashioned Christmas" which included an old-fashioned photo booth and many old-fashioned tools mixed in with old-fashioned scarves and greenery on the tables. It was quite cozy!

7 great-grands born in 2019!

And only 2 were girls! Shaelynn is just a few
weeks younger than Lizah.

The Sunday and Monday following Zehr Christmas was spent with the immediate Waibel family. Seth and I decided to spend the night at Dad and Mom's along with everybody else even though we live 2 miles away. It sounded fun to sleep by the fire so we (actually the guys) pulled a few mattresses downstairs.

Watching Lizah's cousins love on her warms my heart and I'm glad she has Ivory as an older girl cousin to look up to someday.

It was a great Christmas for our family of three and I'm so thankful we stayed healthy through it all!