DECEMBER 2022
I started off December by throwing a Christmas Sock Exchange Party. Everyone brought a pair of socks filled with goodies. After an afternoon of snacks & drinks (Grinch juice) we traded socks via White Elephant style. I adore these ladies and feel so blessed to be surrounded by them.
While I had a house full of ladies with socks, Rich took Jett and Delilah into San Antonio to go ice skating and eat ice cream. They had just as much if not more fun than I did.
A couple of fun traditions that we do/have in our house at Christmas time is chocolate advent calendars and my wine advent calendar.
I finished the JOY letters for the front of the house and Rich set them up for me. I think they turned out really good!
Another thing that is MUST-do during the holidays is the afternoon that we, as a family, bake and decorate sugar cookies. It's always a struggle for the twins to not decorate them with EVERY sprinkle and candy that we have in the house. But, they always do such a good job and I sure do enjoy the time with them.
A few other things that I always look forward to making each year is homemade Chex Mix, sausage balls (which the twins helped me with this year), my Mom's sourcream banana muffins, reindeer food & homemade gift tags for the presents under the tree.
Nothing like a little family, friendly competition. And we have just that at our annual gingerbread house decorating night. Clarence and his family came over for bowls of chili and decorating. All 3 of these kiddos are so creative, it's so fun to watch them.
Here are some of Mickey The Elf shenanigan's from the whole month.
Even with the hustle & bustle of our regular Holiday season, we managed to squeeze in some play dates, sleep overs & birthday parties.
The Christmas Season is all about love, family, friends & traditions. A most special time is when we go to Johnson City to have dinner and see the PEC lights. The Strottener's, Clarence, Milo & Brisa all joined us for a chilly but fun evening.
Our 2022 Anderson Christmas card:
We stole one more opportunity to spend time with friends and take in some more Christmas fun with the Carter's. We met them at The Leaning Pear in Wimberley for dinner and then on to check out some lights. This gang always keeps me laughing!
Our family was REALLY looking forward to the Holidays because for the first time in many years Rich's schedule actually worked where he was going to be off both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, mid day on Christmas Eve, he was called in for emergency overtime. To say that we were all a little disappointed is an understatement. So, off to work he went but the Twins jumped in and helped me carry on with our traditional evening Open House full of family & friends.
Once our guests left it was time for our Christmas jammies and to put treats out for Santa & the reindeer.
Christmas morning came early but we wanted to wait for Daddy to get home. So, Jett & Delilah dug into the unwrapped gifts from Santa while Grandy & I sipped on coffee.
Daddy arrived home and after some huge hugs, we started our family Christmas. It's so much fun watch our kids open their gifts and also see their eyes light up when they give the gifts to us, that they bought with their own money. We are so very proud of the people they are becoming.
And just LOOK at what fell out of Santa's red suit while he was leaving our gifts?! His sleigh flying licence!!
After cleaning up the heaps of wrapping paper and getting oursleves cleaned up, Clarence, Milo & Brisa joined us for a declious Christmas dinner of steak, chicken, salad & corn. Afterwards, we opened gifts and then relaxed by the fire with a few Irish coffee's.
For NYE we opted for a quiet, fun dinner at The Melting Pot, in San Antonio. Then, to ensure that we were close to home when the craziness started, we finished off our evening in our neighborhood, at Matt & Jenn's house. Card games, snacks, fireworks & drinks. Perfect way to end a damn good year!!
Here are some fun, extra photos from our month:
December was a fantastic month with sooo many memories made! We packed in as much as we possibly could. The Anderson's are really looking forward to everything that 2023 is sure to bring!
