On Christmas Eve (after the belly dance performance that Bracken always looks forward to), we said goodbye to our market friends and packed up our booth at the Holiday Market. Whatever we weren’t able to fit into our car, our friend kindly brought to her home for us to pick up during our next town trip, and we were so grateful to her!! We were pretty exhausted after working so hard for such a long stretch and were ready to get home to enjoy our Christmas Eve together.

Jeff started a fire in the woodstove and Bracken got to open a few presents early that night. My mom told me there was one family gift that she wanted us to open early and it turned out to be matching pajamas. They were full body pajamas with feet and they were awesome, so we couldn’t wait to put them on, but they were so incredibly huge it was comical. Apparently, you have to shrink them before you can wear them. (We shrunk them once and that wasn’t sufficient, so let’s hope they shrink more!) The other gift that Bracken got to open early that night from his grandma was a pair of tap shoes. We’ve been enjoying regular dancing performances and to say that he loves his new tap shoes would be an understatement. (!)

On Christmas we opened our stockings and presents. When Bracken and I were passing out presents, I saw an unmarked bag with a coloring book inside and I asked Bracken “who is this one for?” and he exclaimed with so much genuine excitement: “this one’s for me!” and put it in his pile. He had stuck a gift for himself under the tree and then forgotten all about it, so he had delighted himself when he found it again. Jeff made us steak and eggs for breakfast and it was delicious. There was one stocking for the chickens, one for the bunnies and one for Bracken’s fish (have I mentioned him yet? His name is Moss.) The chickens got their Cluckin’ Good Grubs to enjoy on Christmas Day, a tradition we began last year. Moss got some new fish food. And I didn’t end up getting anything to put in the bunnies’ stocking, but we brought them out in the yard for some outside time and they hadn’t had that in awhile with our busy schedule, so that was a special treat for them.

Part of me wanted to lay around on the couch and do nothing that day because all my energy and motivation seemed to be gone after all the doing. But we ended up going outside and deciding to have that bonfire that we had been waiting much of the year to have, since it had been too dry to burn for so long. I was glad we did that because it felt wonderful to be outside moving around. I trimmed all the raspberries, with Bracken’s help, and can’t remember which varieties are supposed to be trimmed and which ones aren’t. (Not that I have them all labeled anymore anyways.) I’m hoping we’ll still get a spring crop of raspberries, but perhaps I should have trimmed them earlier in the season? Oh well, we’ll find out in the spring.

Bracken and I played games together and Jeff joined us for Yahtzee. Jeff and Bracken weren’t as into playing Yahtzee as I was (it’s not really for five year olds), Jeff was tired and ready to fall asleep and Bracken just wanted to dance around in his tap shoes, but they did finish a game with me. I have such fond memories of family games growing up and Yahtzee especially stands out in my mind. We played it a lot at my grandparent’s house and everybody was so animated and entertaining. Playing it just brings back those memories for me.

Last year for Christmas I wanted a good quality laundry basket and Jeff and Bracken got me one from one of our favorite stores, Down To Earth. It was awesome! And I loved it so much that I asked for another one this year. One laundry basket just isn’t really enough and all my other ones have always fallen apart. Jeff was badly in need of new long johns. The Christmas before last I got him a pair of wool long johns and at two years old, they were barely holding together anymore. They are essential because he often works outside for the business and he needs his wool layers to keep him warm, especially when he’s out there for long periods of time. Those are the kinds of things on our wishlists.

Usually I get one special book for Bracken for his birthday and one for Christmas, but this year I ended up getting three for him because I knew he would enjoy them all so much, and he has. We got him some organic cotton jammies and quality art supplies (you should see how much he draws and paints these days), and with the thoughtful gifts from friends and family he was showered with many things that have delighted him to no end. We watched the movie ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’ (We were able to watch it for free here.) That movie also brings back so many memories for me, since we watched it so often at Christmas time. (What are your favorite holiday movies to watch?)

We ended up taking our Christmas tree down on Christmas day because it was so crispy and dry by that point. (I don’t think we’ll put our tree up quite so early next year.) I was bummed only because my dad and stepmom were going to be visiting in a few days and I still wanted it to feel Christmas-y around the house. Bracken remedied that situation. He asked Jeff if he could use the old tree branch that Jeff had mounted to a piece of wood (that was our display in our booth for ornaments last year) and Jeff got it for him. Jeff helped him wrap it with some lights and then Bracken took over from there. He completely decorated it with ornaments and even strung some yarn on it.

My dad and stepmom got to see the special tree that Bracken created when they came on Sunday to celebrate Christmas with us (and now he says he wants to leave it up permanently.) They knew we needed a few days after market to recuperate and they were right, it also gave us time to get our market things put away and the house picked up. I was so grateful they drove up from southern Oregon to spend the day with us, Bracken was so happy to be able to celebrate Christmas with them. Being able to exchange gifts in person is so much more fun too. Socks were at the top of Jeff and I’s wishlists this year and they spoiled us with them. And Bracken has been playing with his wooden train set ever since!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!