Christmas 2025

The older the boys get, the more I realize Christmas magic changes, but it doesn’t disappear. This year gave us some bittersweet milestones, lots of laughs, and all the cozy family moments that make this season so special.

Christmas Eve is always one of my favorite traditions. We had our fancy family dinner and Brad cooked the most amazing prime rib feast. After dinner, we opened our Christmas pajamas and the boys still insisted on sleeping in the same room together on Christmas Eve, one of those traditions I hope never completely goes away.

This year also marked a big milestone: Logan officially told us he knows about Santa. Truthfully, he’s known for a couple years but didn’t want to ruin the magic or traditions for anyone else. While it was a little bittersweet, it also took some pressure off us trying to keep up every bit of the Santa magic. Although apparently not all of it… because Tanner was very upset when I suggested maybe that meant I didn’t have to do Elf on the Shelf anymore. So yes, the elf still made his appearances this Christmas season. 😂

Christmas morning was full of presents, laughs, and all the cozy Christmas chaos. Then that evening, we ended the day watching the very much anticipated Stranger Things finale together. One of the unexpected perks of having teenagers.

Love this season, these traditions, and this family of mine. ❤️🎄 

Chat GPT turned this cute picture into a Norman Rockwall style painting

Christmas breakfast!

I din't get any pictures opening presents so I made them take a picture with their favorite present

Love this family!

Day after Christmas we took Logan to a skateboard park to try out his new present.

It all goes by too fast!!

 

Christmas Parties

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

We kicked things off with Cookies with Santa at the elementary school. I had to drag Logan and his friend Jason to it.  They are ready for middle school and they just felt a little too old for this. But we wanted to come and support and enjoy their last bit of elementary fun.

Then came my work Christmas party, which started off with a nice dinner… and then quickly became the kind of night everyone hopes for. The white elephant exchange absolutely steals the show every year.  It's my favorite.  My co-workers absolutely deliver every year and you'll hands down get the funniest gag gifts ever. We were laughing so hard. 

Me and my partner Kelly.  She's the best partner a girl could ask for.  We really do have the best time together.

Next up, one of Lauren’s friends invited us onto a party bus to head downtown for Lights in the Heights. Walking through a neighborhood lit up with Christmas lights felt straight out of a movie—houses glowing, music playing, everyone just in a good mood. And because we weren’t done yet, the night ended at a club with music and dancing. Not your typical “silent night,” but definitely one for the books. So fun.

Back at school, the kids had their own lineup of festive fun. The elementary Christmas party featured gingerbread house decorating. Unfortunately i wasn't able to attend this one because of work, but thankfully friends sent pictures to fill me in.

I did get to be there for Polar Express Day though, which might be one of my favorites. The kids showed up cozy in their pj's, sipping hot cocoa, listening to our school's namesake reading the Polar Express, and watching the movie together. I was there in my official capacity as yearbook photographer, snapping pictures and trying to capture all that magic. It was super cute!

And in one of those unexpected, proud-mom moments, I spotted Logan’s name in the hallway—Student of the Month. Of course he didn't tell me, so I'm glad I was able to see this!

Love this time of year.  It can be easy to get caught up in the busy of the season, but these are the moments that stick, the laughter, the traditions, the surprises. Christmas parties are where the memories are made.

Christmas music

There’s just something about Christmas music that instantly pulls you into the spirit of the season It really is one of the best parts of the season.  

We unfortunately did miss one of our favorite traditions this year. Brad didn’t have his work Christmas party at the Houston Symphony, which is always such a fun and festive night. No reason was given, but with the large layoffs that happened around Thanksgiving, it makes sense that a big celebration might not have felt quite right this year. Still, it was something we definitely noticed missing from our December lineup.  They've been doing the Houston Symphony Christmas party for over 50+ years, they even did the performance over zoom during covid time.  They've never canceled it, so I was really hopping that they would still do it, and sad when they didn't. 

Thankfully, Christmas music still found its way into our lives in the best way through our boys. Having two kids in orchestra means lots of Christmas music. I just love listening to Carson and then Tanner perform. It brings a whole different level of pride and joy when its your kids performing.

Tanner’s night was especially memorable. He came straight from basketball tryouts (where he made the team!) and went right into performing. Talk about a full night!

They even had the instrument petting zoo, where before the performance they let little kids test the different instruments out.  Logan of course gravitated to the cello...

Brad and I also carved out a little time for our own Christmas music date night. We headed downtown to The Mucky Duck for a date night and to listen to some jazz Christmas music, and it did not disappoint. A little different from the traditional carols, but so memorable.

Just love that no matter how busy the Christmas season gets, listening to Christmas music is tradition and memories and it makes everything feel more meaningful.

 

Christmas 2024

Christmas this year was full of all the cozy traditions that make the season so special. On Christmas Eve, we played games like Bingo, made no-bake cookies for Santa, and enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner. The boys opened their Christmas Eve pajamas, we curled up for a movie, and then set out milk and cookies for Santa. The boys have their own sweet tradition, “sleeping” in the same room together, full of excitement and anticipation.

After they finally settled in, Brad and I became Santa, carefully setting everything out. Even though the boys are getting older, we could still hear them whispering and sneaking out of their room throughout the night, wondering if Santa had come yet. Our family rule is that no one wakes us before 7 a.m.—but sure enough, at 6:59 sharp, we had eager boys at our door ready for Christmas morning!

Stockings came first, followed by presents. This year, all the boys got new headphones, which were a big hit. We had a nice breakfast together and then spent the rest of the day playing with our gifts and just enjoying each other. Simple, sweet, and filled with love, just the way we like it. ❤️

 Merry Christmas!