Christmas 2024

This Christmas was very different than Christmas 2023 when we celebrated early because of DJ’s surgery. There were a lot of mixed emotions this year as the memories of the previous year kept surfacing. But, we were so grateful to be where we are now instead of the previous year. All the anniversaries of the past year hit hard. But, we are so thankful for how well God has sustained DJ and all of us through this past year. It was still different this year because of chemo and the side effects of that but we saw the light at the end of the tunnel with treatments too.

We enjoyed setting up our Christmas tree together again this year. I do still miss cutting down a tree but I am really enjoying the ease of the pre-lit tree! The girls didn’t really want their pictures taken (as usual) but I tried to snag some anyways.

We spent Christmas day at our house as usual. The girls were excited to open their gifts and spend the day together. We stuck with our traditional gift categories of something you need, something to read and something you want. Thanks to Facebook, we found a great deal on a gymnastics bar and beam for Zoe! We watched Charlie Brown Christmas and a couple other Christmas specials. We enjoyed our annual big breakfast and gingerbread cookies. It was a sweet day celebrating Jesus’ birthday as a family.

A few days after Christmas, we celebrated with my side of the family. Unfortunately, we did not get any pictures of the girls with Piper or my mom. But, we had a great day with them. It was so nice being able to hang out for the day after not seeing them since they had moved back to Florida.

A few days later, we celebrated with DJ’s side of the family. The kids all had fun playing together and then really enjoyed going to see the Christmas lights at Hollywild and the animals. The bunnies were a hit with the kids!

We are so thankful this Christmas looked very different than last year! And we are thankful for the time we had to spend with our families.