Christmas Vacation Part One

By Lexi - December 29, 2017

Christmas was a bit different for us this year. Instead, of going back home to Utah to one of our parents' houses, we went to Dallas and met my family at my sister's house. We also decided as a family to do fun things and make some memories instead of exchanging gifts this year. I have to admit, it was kind of weird waking up Christmas morning and not gathering in the family room to open presents. But we filled our time with other fun things!

Shawn and I got into town a few days before everyone else, so we were able to spend some quality time with our niece and nephews, do a bit of shopping, and Shawn had some job interviews. I loved walking into a house filled with Christmas trees, lights, and that home-y Christmas feel! We don't have that in our small apartment back home and I really miss it this time of year! Plus, my sister has the cutest house and all the Christmas decor made it look that much better!

My parents and youngest sister got into town late Friday night and on Saturday the boys all went to the Lego store while the girls baked cookies and listened to Christmas music. We were definitely sugared out by the end, but it's always a blast and totally worth it!

The Christmas program at church Sunday morning was so good...well, what I caught of it. I was on Colbie (my niece) duty and she kept me busy. After church Shawn and I went and visited his brother's family and his parents for awhile to wish them a Merry Christmas while my parents picked up my last sister and grandma from the airport. It's so nice having a bunch of family here and getting to see them all when we come!

Shirt - Lexi's Loft
Jeans - Primark
Sweater - Banana Republic

Yeah he's crazy!

For our Christmas Eve festivities and traditions that night we had our Annual Gingerbread House Contest, watched The Polar Express, ate Belgian Waffles and ham, and had our Annual White Elephant Gift Exchange. So fun!

Anders got to pick the teams this year!

Let the competition begin!

My partner in crime

Favorite house if I do say so myself!

The hubby and bro in law

Colbie got to "help" Auntie Leah ha!

Like I mentioned above, we didn't really do gifts for each other so Christmas morning we just watched the kids open their gifts and had our traditional big breakfast! Eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit. The rest of the day was pretty mellow. We continued our Star Wars marathon in preparation for seeing the new one on Tuesday, ate lots of cookies, and played some games.

Tuesday we did some after-Christmas shopping and messed around until it was time to go see STAR WARS!!! So we didn't just go to a regular theater...we went to a place called Studio Movie Grill and IT IS AMAZING! First of all, it's super nice, clean and high end. Secondly, waiters come to yours seats once you've sat down and take your order...they take your order!! They bring out your appetizers and drinks before the movie starts and then they bring your meal out in the next half hour or so. And it's not like pretzels and hot dogs...we got gourmet pizza, flatbread, pasta, and burgers. The food was good and the movie was amazing! I don't think I can ever go back to a regular movie theater again ha!

Wednesday we did some more shopping...what do you expect from a family of girls?! Then we went to dinner at an awesome new place called Tri Tip Grill and ordered way more food than we needed! So good.

Yesterday we hung out, built some puzzles, and had a Girl's Night Out. We went and saw "The Greatest Showman" and it was so much better than I thought it would be. I loved it! The music, the acting, the story...so good! I definitely recommend it, you won't be disappointed. I want to go buy the soundtrack right now and jam out all day!

Have a fabulous Friday and I can't wait to share the rest of my holiday trip with you guys next week!