Dutt Family Christmas
What a wonderful time of the year! While it is easy to let the craziness of holiday preparations take away from the true beauty of holiday celebrations, that wasn’t the case for us this year. We were blessed to spend the Christmas holiday with the Dutt family. I’ve always said “Home is where your Mom is, so this year I was home for Christmas!” Love you Mom (don’t worry Dad, your baby girl will always need you as well). When we realized we would finish up our Amazon CamperForce job a few days earlier than expected, we decided to leave the camper and head to Ohio for a few days. We reached Waldo, Ohio on Christmas Eve and shortly after my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew Benjamin arrived from Chicago. Walking into Christmas Eve service with my entire family in tow brought back great memories of Christmas’ past. We finished the evening watching my Mom continue the process of making the “Best Cinnamon Rolls in the Universe”. See what I mean about home being where my mom is - this is just one of her many talents.
I woke up Christmas morning smelling cinnamon rolls. That might just be the very best thing to wake up too. I typically wake up to the smell of Russ making us coffee, but I have to admit that pales in comparison to waking up to the decadent scent of cinnamon rolls. Sorry, honey! To make breakfast even better and continue with tradition, my mom also spoiled us with broiled grapefruit. Yum and yum!
Next up, we enjoyed an interactive live nativity at church in the morning. It was a lovely service and a great reminder of the reason for the season. Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!
Russ had requested ham balls for Christmas dinner and my Dad happily obliged. If you have never heard of ham balls, you must not be a Midwesterner or at least not an Ohioian! Think meatballs, but made with ham instead. They are traditionally served with a slightly sweet and delightfully sticky sauce. I’m not a fan of ham, but do enjoy a holiday ham ball or two!
Benjamin was an incredibly patient little gift opener and waited until early afternoon to open gifts. He carefully opened each and every gift (okay, they were pretty much all for him) and then had to make the hardest decision of the day - which toy/game to play with first. We all enjoyed watching him open gifts so much so that after the excitement, we needed a nap. Russ and I enjoyed a Christmas Day nap. That’s when you know you are not a kid anymore!
After ample toy-playing and sufficient nap-taking we headed over to my cousin’s house for a family get-together. It was the first time in a really, really long time that all of the cousins from my Dad’s side were all together. Russ thinks it is funny that I only have 4 first cousins (2 on each side), but regardless the size of the family, it is always great to actually all be together. As we sat in the living room after an enjoyable evening of yummy food and shared laughter over board & card games, we realized we were all lounging together in the same room. So fun - thanks Shawn & Vicki for the lovely invite.
Why we took no pictures during this family Christmas is a mystery and will probably always remain one. Ugh! I’m going to blame it on the fact that we were too busy having fun and making memories. You will just have to trust me that it all happened - I’ve got no photographic proof. Photos or not - it was a good Christmas. Hope yours was equally happy!
