Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, all!

Despite everything (do I have to say COVID again?), we managed to have a great Christmas in the Sorenson household. Jack did his part by providing a ready supply of Christmas-themed drawings. 

We started our Christmas Eve with a visit with John and Remi and Peter and Robyn's families. We then went to a lovely dinner at Cooper's Hawk.

Mama got wine. Merry Christmas to Mama.

We came home and watched some church because Baby Jesus. Then we went to sleep and begged Ellie not to wake up too early. Yeah, she still woke up too early. But hey, it's Christmas. Come Christmas morn', we dug into our presents. Ellie loved her stuff - then hated her stuff - then kinda sorta thought they were ok - and now I *think* she likes them. Ah, teen girls.

After gift opening, we got to dig into Jared's oh-so-yummy orange rolls. 

And to chow down on a charcuterie board. We're kind of into those right now.

Jared chilled and worked on his Christmas puzzle.

And Jack and Ellie tested out some of their gifts, including some molds to make hot cocoa bombs.

Hi, Jack.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Miracle in Tennessee

Guys, you have to understand. We just had to get OUT OF THIS HOUSE. We've been COVIDed for like  9 months, which means working from home, and schooling from home, and .....well, everything.... from home. So it was time to get outta this home, if just for a bit. And if we were going to get out, we wanted to get OUT and go somewhere that could really do up Christmas. So what better place than Tennessee! So, off to Tennessee we went, and encountered a host of miracles. 

First miracle - 6 1/2 hours in the car, each way, and not a SINGLE argument. What the what?!? Who are these kids, and what did they do with Jack and Ellie?!? Smiles and smiles and more smiles - our first Christmas miracle.

Then we arrived in Gatlinburg (and its neighbor Pigeon Forge). We wandered around Gatlinburg, and had a great time site- and people-seeing. 

And that's where we encountered our second Christmas miracle - Ellie, who hasn't willingly submitted to a Mom-generated photo in roughly two years, sidled up in front of the camera - even with her cooty-infected-brother - throughout the trip. Again I say, what the what?!? Thank you Baby Jesus!

Of course sometime it's hard to tell, what with all the masking throughout the trip. But trust me, there were smiles. 

And Gatlinburg was full of camera ops, so I took full advantage of that. 

The one downside to Gatlinburg is lots and lots of long lines. And at times it was a bit chilly. But still, everyone put up with it with great attitudes. Yes, another Christmas miracle - no complaining. 

Nope, no complaining - everyone just dealt with the waits. And dressed accordingly. 

She's there somewhere. 

Our second day, we headed to Ana Keesta. You took a ski lift up the mountain, where they had food and alpine slides and other fun activities. 

And some really pretty views. 

And yes, you may notice another Christmas miracle - Lydia actually is in a picture! 

They're enjoying this, really they are. 

On our third day, we did some alpine slides (sorry, no photos), TRIED (ahem, unsuccessfully) to escape an Escape Room (again, sorry, no photos - we were too busy trying to escape), and took a helicopter ride. 

Our pilot took us through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and to the mountains. 

Yeah, we felt pretty cool.

Oh, and go karts! Forgot about the go karts! We did those, too.

There's Ellie.

And Jared

And there's Jack.

And no one crashed the go karts! Let's chalk that up to another Christmas miracle. Thank you, Tennessee! 
 

Now....it's Christmastime

 Man, were we excited to get the Christmas season going. But it takes some key components before you can REALLY say that you've got your Christmastime going. First, of course you need the tree. We knocked it out of the park on that one, my friend. Tall, wide, even, fresh, just beautiful. 

And of course you have to hang the stockings with care. Check, did that. 

We've got to put out our nativity scenes, of course. Man, those make me all smiley. I love those things. 

We've got over 30 now, so we've got to spread them out a bit. But you know, something is still missing. 

Is it the yummy baking? Yeah, we've got that going.

Yum.

But still not QUITE there. So maybe it's the snow that has been missing. Well, here you go.

Jack even took care of our snowman requirement. 

Hello, Sam the Snowman. So very Christmasy. But we're still not quite there. What could be missing?!?

Ahhhhh. There you go. Grandmom's cookies. They finally arrived on Christmas Eve and then, AND ONLY THEN, could we say that officially, Christmastime is here. 

(And those cookies are in my belly.)

Home for the Holidays

Like everything 2020, our holidays will be a little different this year. No big parties, no big travel. But there are still some fun traditions that remind us that the holidays are awesome.

Like the Martinez's pumpkin pie, which is Ellie's favorite. 

And Thanksgiving with family - although not ALL the Candland family. But we still got to spend Thanksgiving with Peter and Robyn's family, John and Remi's family, and Heidi and Sean Payne's family. Great food and beautiful weather.

And cousins to hang out with. Here is Ellie with Paige, Brooke, and Paige's cousins Elizabeth and Charlotte. 

And a beautiful, fresh tree to decorate our house.

Time to dig out all the nativity scenes.

And these, too.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We're So Very Fancy

You know, we are all so very fancy. What with our big-ass hot tub right in our backyard. What with our fabulous 65 jets and what-not.

Sure, with COVID delays, it took FIVE LONG MONTHS to get here. And then, due to unforeseen technical difficulties it took us FIVE TECH VISITS to get it up and running. Sure, we thought it would never happen. 

But now it has.

And so now we are just SO VERY FANCY. 

Perfect Birthday

 How to make a perfect birthday for Lydia:

(1) Wake her up (but not too early) with her favorite coffee drink and chocolate croissants. 

(2) Give her an awesome birthday card

(3) Take her to a lovely winery/restaurant for lunch (some of the things aren't shown, but we started with a charcuterie board and a wine flight, then had some really tasty pizzas, and finished off with yummy desserts)

(4) Sit through online church WITHOUT COMPLAINTS (really, it's a birthday miracle)

(5) Leave her alone with a book and some Milano cookies.

And that, my friend, is how it's done.