Happy Monday, friends and fam!
Saturday was my 6th annual "Mockey Little Christmas Party."
I'm sure it's redundant at this point, but I just don't care... I'm so thankful for these friendships! It means a lot to have friends willing to make the four hour round-trip drive with young kids to come see me and the fam! And it means a lot to me to be a part of their lives and their kids' lives... and for them to meet my niece and nephews and speak into their lives and know lots of the details of our family story, and vice versa. So even though the official gratitude month is over, I must say I feel very grateful for all of that today! ❤
There wasn't quite enough room to seat everyone for a meal in my house, so Mom and I set up tables and space heaters in my garage! =) And Mom put in some extra effort to decorate the garage and make it feel more festive!
I mentioned to Mom that Karli had used tablecloths we could color on for Friendsgiving, and she promptly found the Christmasy version and ordered it on Amazon... fun!
T-man picked up Chick-fil-A for us (chicken minis + fruit and more nuggets), I made ham and cheese sliders and got donut holes, and Mom made the PW sheetcake... a fun assortment of brunchy foods, and waaaay too much fruit!
We took all sorts of fun family photos by the tree and by the photo backdrop in my garage. =) Ellie abandoned Jeff to go back inside and color after the group pic, and Kelly was home with a sick Henry Edward, so Jeff posed for a pic on his own. lol
I remembered helping color the cardboard playhouse Rach bought Kyndal a few years back and thought it might be fun for the kids... and it was! Only $24, and provided lots of joy and entertainment for them - yay!!
Christmas tree pics -- JEM and Ellie + The Wilson Fam!
Understandably, Triston and Carter left a bit early. But Jace Michael and Kyndal Faith had fun playing with Ellie Faye, Tate Haywood, and Parker Elizabeth... and it made me happy seeing them all having fun together!
Rach watched the kids and took some cute pics and videos of them running hundreds of circles around the little path through my bedroom... whilst me, Mom, Jeff, Chet, and Karli all got to chat a bit in the living room. Here we have Jeff looking at a scrapbook and finding a pic of himself looking at another scrapbook! lol #meta I love that he always appreciates those, and it brings up fun memories and conversations!
Jace and Parker had an adorable little friendship!
She's a fun mix of sweet and sassy and stubborn, much like the Mini Miss K! =)
"Mockey and the boys" ...and the Moose! lol I really love this one!
Tate is super creative, and he made me this awesome Grinch Christmas/Thank You card... very well folded, also! lol I adore it! ❤
This has been a December tradition since Tate was a baby in 2018... some combination of the Wilson and Moss families have made it every year, and this year, Mom and the Parrishes joined us! =)
Our 2023 group pic... not the best angle, but yay for friends and family and fun photo props! lol
Shoutout to Mom for helping me set up and tear down and decide how much food to order/make, to Rach for watching the kids for a bit, and to J&K for keeping the littles laughing and entertained! I get frazzled and feel inadequate about hosting well sometimes , particularly with mixing crowds (then try to calm myself down by doing as little as possible), but I had an epiphany about all of that this year, and I'm thankful to be observing and learning and growing there. Once I got clear on what I wanted and spoke up for it, it was very worth the simple efforts to make my house a bit more kid-friendly and welcoming and fun! So cheers to planning ahead, to valuing connection, and to remembering we all relax and have more fun when the people around us are enjoying themselves... in spite of my initial anxiety, I feel like that went really well in all directions this time, so yay for that!! ❤
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