Our Christmas in 2025 was a bit crazy. It felt like the time between Black Friday and Christmas Day passed in the blink of an eye. We took the kids to the mall to see Santa a little late, but we still managed to stay on top of the Christmas season for the most part.

One of my favorite parts of the year is my extended family’s Christmas gathering, which usually happens the weekend before Christmas. It is funny how much life has changed over the last ten years. We went from being mostly young adults to the parents of little ones. Now they pretty much have the spotlight and attention, as they should.

Yesterday morning was pretty much the same as it has been for the last four years. Her family comes over for Christmas, they watch the kids open most of their presents, and we all have breakfast together. Lily was especially funny in her little shark jumper. I am not going to lie, I kind of want one myself.

The kids racked up in the present department pretty well, too. Alex was extremely impatient about waiting to open his gifts, but Santa and family were very good to both of them. Lily got a hoverboard, which may have been a bad idea. I tried it for a minute, and it felt like trying to balance on a skateboard or roller skates, but maybe even worse. Alex got plenty of dinosaurs, Hot Wheels cars, and the giant toy crane he had been asking for. I think he was a little disappointed that the crane does not do as much as he thought it would. For him, it is probably like a dog that finally catches a car and has no idea what to do with it. LOL.