Holidays Don't Always go as Planned...

We don't really do the same thing every year for the Christmas holidays.

By Christmas of 2008, we had been together for 4 years, were engaged, had bought our house 3 months earlier, brought home a puppy at the beginning of December and it was the first Christmas we were spending together. Before that Ben had always gone home to Texas for the holiday. That year, his family came here. It was a great Christmas with a house full of family, snow and our families got to spend Christmas together.

Christmas of 2009 we had just gotten married a few months earlier and spent the holiday in Washington with my family. It was a little strange to wake up Christmas morning with just the two of us, but nice at the same time. We chatted with his family on the computer for a while and opened gifts with them and then headed over to my parents to open gifts and have dinner with them.

Christmas 2010 was spent in San Antonio with Ben's family. It was my first time away from my family for Christmas but our Texas family made it very special indeed. After getting back to Washington we celebrated with my family on New Year's day.

This year, after welcoming our baby just a mere 24 days earlier, our plan was to have a low-key, quiet day/dinner at my parents' house on Christmas day. However, a yucky cold for my mom had other plans so we didn't make it over there. We had french toast for breakfast, exchanged our gifts, spoke with Ben's family on the computer and opened gifts from them and relaxed all day long. It was a little strange not seeing any other family but it was kind of nice and special having out first Christmas with our new family of three.

Not the best photo but glad we got one with the 3 of us. Thank goodness
for a Gorillapod and camera timer!

Pretty sure she understood that this gift was for her!

We did go to my parents' yesterday because it seemed as though the cold had passed so we exchanged gifts and had a yummy dinner of a pork crown roast from the pigs that my parents raised last year. We relaxed and visited and of course Eleanor's grandparents gushed over her for a few hours. We called it an early night after a big dinner and on the account that we get tired pretty early these days.

Dad opening a gift with her at my parents'.

Hub gettin' artsy...until my brother noticed the creeper outside!

Even though it wasn't necessarily the "planned" Christmas we had a wonderful weekend and are just cherishing the quiet time we have together before Hub gets geared up for getting back to work.

How did you spend your holidays? Do you have the same plans every year or do they change?