Todd & I headed up to his hometown of Leetonia, OH in the afternoon on Christmas Eve to spend the night & next morning/afternoon with his family. We got there just in time to head to Christmas Eve mass at 4:30pm. Afterwards, we went back to Todd's parents' house where all the extended family came over for dinner & the $5 gift exchange (Christmas #1). There were close to 30 people which is a huge difference for me since I'm just use to my parents and brother being around for the holidays. It was a bit overwhelming at first as there were some new faces but I settled in quickly. There were so many of us, we actually had to eat dinner in 3 shifts so by the time we ate and did the gift exchange, it was close to midnight & I was wiped out.
Santa came to visit after dinner & hand out presents to some of the little kids. Todd's nephew, Andrew, was so excited to see Santa.
We woke up on Christmas morning and hung out with Todd's parents until his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came over to open presents (Christmas #2). I swear I had never seen so many presents underneath a Christmas tree. Andrew was hilarious opening presents because he had quickly realized the shape of a clothing box and knew those presents were not fun presents. After a couple hours of opening presents, we all headed over to Todd's cousin's house for more presents and lunch (Christmas #3)
Todd & I left Leetonia around 3:30pm to head back to Columbus for Christmas #4 at my parents' house. Like I said earlier, it was the first time I hadn't been with my family on Christmas morning so for me, it didn't really feel like Christmas until I was home. When we got there, Jeff, Todd, and I opened our stockings first then ate dinner. After dinner, we opened presents, starting with the "family" tree and then ended with the "Santa" tree.
Growing up, we always had 2 Christmas trees. Our big Christmas tree was in the living room and was considered the "family" tree where we put presents to each other and from my parents. We also have our "Santa" tree which is much smaller and in the family room where Santa leaves his presents.
I had a great time at home being with my family and was glad that Todd & I were able to spend Christmas with both of our families.
Family Tree in the living room
Santa tree in the family room
The Wittich Family
After we left my parents' house, Todd & I went back to my apartment to open presents we had for each other (Christmas #5). I had no idea what Todd was getting me and had been dying to know for about the past 3 weeks. He did great & I loved everything. I was pretty impressed that he knew I wanted a few of these things because I had only mentioned them in passing or hadn't even talked about them in months.
By the time yesterday rolled around, I was exhausted, but we still had one last Christmas to go to (Christmas #6) in Ashland, KY. Todd came with my parents, brother, and I to visit my Grandma, Aunts, and Uncles at my Grandma's house. It was very low key and nice to see everyone because it had been over a year since I'd seen everyone because I wasn't able to make it down last year for Christmas. I was happy that Todd was able to meet some of my family on my Dad's side since he had already met everyone in Houston this past summer on my Mom's side.
It's been a busy few days but I think this was probably one of the best Christmases to date. I'm hoping to relax for the next few hours before the craziness of this upcoming week begins. Tonight, a few of my old UD roommates are coming into town and I'm going to dinner & catch up with them. Tomorrow & Wednesday I have to work from 3:45am-noon so I'm sure I'll be tired by the time New Year's Eve rolls around on Thursday.
1 comment:
That was a way better story than the movie "Four Christmases" - you sure know how to pack in the celebrating. I'm impressed that Todd survived the Ashland visit all that entails. He's a good guy. Thanks for giving us faraway people a chance to know what you all are up to in Ohio. Your stories brought back many memories from my childhood too .
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