Christmas 2013

It seems like as soon as Thanksgiving ends, Christmas celebrations immediately begin.  I love the opportunity to celebrate with so many people in so many different ways: work parties, church parties, ice skating and dinners with friends, and family gatherings.  It can often get a little crazy with all the hustle and bustle, but it's also full of joy as we celebrate together the greatest Gift ever given.

My celebrations started here in Colorado Springs.  I was invited to an event this year called Christmas Around the World.  A group of people got together and decided that they wanted to have a night where people of all nationalities across Colorado Springs could come together and share the unique ways that they celebrate Christmas.  I hosted a table which included people from Italy, Russia/Kazakhstan, and Hawaii.  Quite the mix.  It was a night full of different performances, meeting new people from every country you could imagine, and sharing a meal made up of a variety of cuisines.  And all of it was tied back to a fun telling of the 3 wise men following the star to meet Jesus.  The audio was the story while we watched a cartoonist draw it out on the screen.  I wish I had a copy of it to share with you.  The cartoonist also volunteered his skills that night to draw cartoons during the transition to the next performance.

Native American Hoop Dancing

Indian Dancing

Indian Light Dancing

Cartoon leading up to the hula dancing

Leading up to...

a battle between good and evil through Judo

Get ready for...

African Dancing

Russian Singing

Japanese Drumming

It's so neat to see so many different cultures.  There are so many amazing talents to share.  And it always gives me a little glimpse of heaven to see all the nations, tribes, and tongues gathered together.

This was the kickoff of my Christmas celebrations.  The next few weeks held many White Elephant gift exchanges, caroling, lots of giving, and way too many sweets.  Then it was off to Texas for me!

Still working for a school district is great!  The district decided to gift us an additional two days off, so the district was closed for the entire week of Christmas.  Then we also had two days off for New Year's.  That meant that I only had to use three vacation days to be able to enjoy a two week holiday just like I was still a teacher.  What a deal!

As usual, I brought the cold with me.  But I guess we shouldn't be shocked that it's cold in the winter.  At least this year it was only cold and not icy.  And I was just happy to be with my family for the holidays.  I actually got to celebrate with my dad's side of the family right away.  I flew in late Saturday night and then got to enjoy the Eastup Christmas Sunday afternoon.  What a great way to start the trip!

Christmas Eve in the Eastup house means homemade pizza!  Zach kindly picked up a bag of King Arthur's Perfect Pizza Blend flour for us.  It never fails to make the perfect pizza crust, and we couldn't possibly settle for less than the best for our Christmas Eve pizzas.  With the dough made and tossed, it was time to create!

It's quite a production.  No lack of toppings for sure!

Everyone has their own style and techniques.

Mom & Dad's ready for the oven

Mine & Zach's ready for the heat too

Zach and I could not possibly have different pizza creations.
It requires the great wall of yellow peppers to prevent the
two sides from mixing :)

Mom & Dad's looks delicious!

Ours does too!

The great wall held up.  Yay!

Even at our ages, Christmas morning is still the same as it has always been as well.  I knock on Zach's door just 5 minutes before our decided Christmas time.  We meet at the top of the stairs.  Mom and dad hear us and come with cameras.  I still wear the same Christmas pajama pants.

Merry Christmas!

Santa gifts are out to see immediately.  He always leaves them in the same place.  Zach's on the big couch; mine in the over-sized chair.  Stockings are next (my favorite part) and then we move to the tree.  Some traditions are just hard to change.

The aftermath

We have a little time to play with our new toys and then it's off to Grandma & Papa's!  It's always a good time with everyone together - eating TexMex, sharing stories of what's been going on since we're scattered all over the place, playing games, and and getting a piece of mom's bread pudding.

What a cutie!

Doing a great job of playing Santa

First Christmas as a married couple!

Kids make present opening way more fun!  He was so excited
about anything that came out of that bag, even if he had
no idea what it was ;)

Cousin time makes holidays even more exciting!

My mom's Christmas Bread Pudding
We only get this special treat once a year and we all
look forward to a warm slice drizzled with "the sauce"

Even though Christmas day itself was over, I definitely felt like the joy of Christmas just kept on going. Any night we were home, we played games together as a family.  One of our favorites continues to be Ticket to Ride Europe, along with rummy and speed Scrabble.  But this year we also added Settlers of Catan and Quiddler.  I got to spend time with great friends from college.  Candiss & Taylor treated me to a boba smoothie with mango popping boba!  They have been raving about it, so I was so excited to finally get to try it and it did not disappoint.  Boba is so fun to drink because you never know what's going to pop up the straw or when you're gong to get a little burst of mango.  We also got to enjoy programmed Christmas lights; the best of course being the Aggie War Hymn!  Then a trip to Temple gave me the chance to see several college friends at once!  I was blown away by how perfectly the timing worked out to see all of them.  Such a gift!

It was even Eileen's birthday!  Happy Birthday!

I wish we could do this more often :)

Is she not the cutest?

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."  Luke 2:10-11

Now that's a reason to celebrate!  Merry Christmas!!!