Pandemic Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!  We are still recovering from Christmas and enjoying the slow pace of our days on vacation this week.  There have been lots of new toys to play with, which we have really appreciated since there aren't a lot of outdoor options right now with more ice than snow.

We were able to attend church on Christmas Eve in our special chapel at St. Michael's.  So beautiful!

Evie made this mask on her new sewing machine!

Frankie enjoying some outside fun before the snow melted!

We had no idea what Christmas would look like during a pandemic, so we had been mentally preparing for the worst, but crossing our fingers and praying that we would still be able to celebrate in a small way.  In the end, it was joyful, fun, delicious, festive, and and merry.  We are grateful that our governor allowed two households to gather to celebrate the holidays, so we were able to keep our usual family tradition for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Zehnacker side of the family.  The kids were so excited to be with their cousins!  A big part of our tradition on Christmas is being with family, and we savored that time together after isolating for so long.  The kids had an awesome Christmas, and honestly, I think they completely forgot we were living in a pandemic because it seemed so normal!  Our other celebrations with grandparents had to be a little quieter, shorter, and included masks and distancing, but we were happy to be together nonetheless.  We are especially grateful for the simple things this year - health, family, and and time with loved ones.  Get ready for photo overload....

Grandpa Zeke stepped in to deliver Millie's traditional Christmas blessing this year

Lots of honey stuck to our foreheads from the blessing.  Ha ha!

Noah checking out the gifts and getting excited for Christmas morning

SOOOO happy to be together on Xmas Eve!

Noah's note to Santa

Evie's note to Santa

Christmas morning - Santa brought woodworking tools for Noah

Santa brought Evie her very own sewing machine!

Santa and the reindeer ate all the cookies and carrots and left quite a mess

Mommy's Christmas morning included a new rocking camp chair.  So comfy!

Assembling the woodworking kit

Checking out the sewing machine with the master seamstress

Playing with Boomwhackers - a family favorite Christmas gift!

Noah's workshop

Frankie's First Christmas

Family kids pic

Evie made this special Zentangle gift for Aunt Pea

Favorite gift: Babysitters Club Graphic Novels!

Noah and Evie made gifts for everyone.  It was so thoughtful and sweet!

This one really stole my heart - Noah's writing on Grandma's special gift

Hess Truck tradition

Grandma's Famous Christmas Brunch - we are SO glad this wasn't cancelled!

Enjoying brunch together - it's been a long time since we all sat together at a table!

Our favorite gift tradition from Grandpa Zeke.  He takes good care of his girls.

Happy girl

My favorite snuggler

Visiting Nana Mil on Christmas Day (2nd floor window)

We also had a special family caroling night for Nana Mil on the 23rd since we couldn't be together to celebrate Christmas this year.  She was glowing as she watched the whole family from her window!