Holidays 2015 Roundup

It's the second day of the New Year, and things are calm. I just got done cleaning my whole house for the New Year refresh. It feels good. I didn't do a lot of picture taking and posting over the Holidays. I wanted to be in the moment, and not be spending the whole time taking pictures. I wanted to spend the Holidays with my family, looking at it with my eyes and not through a screen. It felt so good! I did take a few pictures, but the moments behind the photos are the things that matter most.

 

Christmas Eve morning, my family went down to Northwest Portland to look around, and fulfill our annual and yearly tradition. There were the same shops we always enjoy looking through, and there were a couple of new shops that we added to the list of our favorites. We spent about a couple hours down in Northwest Portland because we had to get back home in time for both myself and my sister to go to work. Yes, we unfortunately had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we still got to spend that precious time with family. I am so appreciative of my family for making Christmas work out even though my sister and I both had to work. 

Christmas Eve was wonderful! After work, my sister and I met up with everybody else at my Aunt's house. My Uncle made a fabulous turkey, and the dinner spread was absolutely fabulous. It was so much fun seeing the girls open up their gifts. I love the childhood excitement of Christmas. 

A big part of our Holidays "last year" of 2015 was our tree. It had character, and it was the experience of getting our tree that made it so special. 

On Christmas Day, I also had to work, so we had a beautiful brunch at my Grandma Biggs's house. My Aunt and Uncle and little Q came over, and we had such a beautiful Christmas Brunch. My Grandma sure knows how to make cheesy potato casserole that you just want to savor. It is wonderful. Quincy is developing quite the cute personality. She loves music! My Grandma has this book with buttons and a speaker, you can sing along with the book and the songs, and Quincy just loved playing with that. She was a very good helper as well passing out the gifts. It was so special to spend time with my family, and catch up with them. I just can't believe how big Quincy is getting! My sister and I both had to leave the celebration early in order to get to work. I am glad that I got to spend time with them for Christmas, despite me working that day.

We decided to change up tradition a bit with my mom, dad, and sister. We exchanged presents with each other after work on Christmas Day, and we ate left-overs, and then watched A Christmas Carol. While I absolutely loved all of my gifts this year, they were and still are greatly appreciated, my favorite part about Christmas was family time.

With the busy mornings we had over the Christmas Holidays, we were unable to make our traditional Christmas breakfast on Christmas, so my dad made amazing egg nog French toast on Sunday, December 27th. It was delightful! I could not stop eating the French toast. Dad always makes a scrumptious breakfast. 

The days in between Christmas and New Years were filled with enjoying our gifts, coffee, working, and too many sweets. Oops! The stomach aches were worth it! :) I love Christmas goodies. 

New Years Eve came around, and I spent my morning making these adorable paper shaker wands for ringing in the New Year in a quiet way. They were easy to make, and my little cousins enjoyed

shaking them at 12:00 am, January 1st, 2016! They were adorable, and were perfect were ringing in the New Year. I have loved spending New Years Eve with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins for the past few years. They are always fun company. 

For a New Years Eve snack, I made everybody Beer Cheese fondue. Cheese fondue is one of my favorites! Everybody enjoyed it. Again, the fondue was super easy to make. Perfect for a laid back New Years Eve. After working straight through the holidays, a laid back New Years Eve was just perfect. 

12:00 am. January 1st. 2016. 

The Holidays are always beautiful, and they go by way too fast. That is why I lived in the moment for the most part during the 2015 holidays. Best way to close out the year 2015. Onward to another beautiful year!