Two Christmases

This Saturday we had our first of two Christmases. Since we will be in Knoxville at my parents' house on the 25th, we had early festivities with Tony's parents and his brother Jon and his wife Jennifer (who have been married a year now! Congrats!).

We started it off with dog Christmas - they all got squeakers, and Roxy got a giant sheep - that isn't supposed to wear out as easy - it's super tough!

Michele made a delicious Greek feast - pastichio and baklava - can't go wrong with that!

And she started a new tradition for all of us that will continue for years, and be especially nice once little ones are there too. We all had to put on reindeer ears -- to the delight of my husband -- and we all took turns reading The Christmas Story (the religious one--no Santas involved). Then we got some fancy presents!

The holiday light display in our area is only a few miles away, so we set off to see that. A family with a little land and a lot of patience hosts a holiday display where you drive thru their property and see all of their creations. So many of the cutouts are made by hand - it's pretty incredible. And there were like 100 cars there, and people only know about this place by word of mouth. They should totally start taking donations for charity.

Although early, nothing puts you in the Christmas spirit more than spending time with those you love.