So what did our Christmas look like? Lots of great food, playtime on the beach with the dogs, an evening walk to see Christmas lights and quality time with those we love most!
As always, everyone was up bright and early on Christmas morning, but my mom was apparently up before everyone because I awoke to the mouth-watering smells of monkey bread and cheese puff casserole.
We always eat breakfast while opening our Christmas stockings, so this year, as we dug into the delicious food, we unwrapped our stocking stuffers and helped the dogs with their stockings, too!
No one was more excited about their stocking than Kona, my sister and her husbandās sweet chocolate lab.
Kona immediately started chewing on one of her gifts and could not be distracted!
Once ours stockings were emptied, we moved into the living room and started the gift exchange.
Of course the dogs inserted themselves in the present opening activities and could not be ignoredā¦
We try our best to prolong the gift giving and take turns opening presents to make Christmas morning last as long as possible, but we seemed to fly through everything this year and were left sitting and smiling in a sea of wrapping paper.
It was a great Christmas!
We spent the rest of the morning lounging around before leashing up the dogs for a walk and heading home to enjoy a recreation of Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and more! The works!
Iām thinking Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas should become a tradition. It was delicious! I made Ryanās grandmaās glazed carrots and my sister and I helped my mom with the mashed potatoes by following this recipe for Alton Brownās garlic mashed potatoes. I definitely recommend it.
My father-in-law ended up driving in town from Bradenton to join us for dinner which was great!
After dinner, our group (dogs included!) walked around town to look at Christmas lights and check out the Deck The Chairs decorated lifeguard chairs display.
It was a great ending to a great Christmas!
I hope you have really enjoyed this holiday season with your loved ones! And if youāre still soaking up the holiday fun through New Yearsā this week, I hope you have a blast!
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Merry Christmas! Everything looked wonderful!
OMG I haven’t had monkey bread in forever, I’m sure it was delicious!
It looks like you had a wonderful Christmas with your family. š
where is your funnel neck hoodie from in the first picture? it looks soon comfy. #neverenoughhoodies
Welcome back! It looks like a fabulous Christmas, and I’m glad you got to spend it with family.
Your Christmas looked amazing! I love the pictures of you and Ryan with Sadie! So sweet! š Glad you had such an amazing time – there’s nothing better than spending time with people you love – I hope your sister liked all of her gifts from you! In a very odd twist my sister and I both bought each other bracelets!! haha š š
Looks like you had a great time! My family each takes turns opening gifts too – i live doing it this way! We always have thanksgiving dinner for Christmas, except we replace the pumpkin pie with Christmas baking!
Merry Christmas Julie and family. It looks like it was lovely time!
looks like a great xmas spent with the ones you love! š
My family does Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas! It is the best. It’s necessary that that meal happens twice a year. Looks like a wonderful Christmas, full of dogs, food, and family. The best things!
Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas!! We have monkey bread when we stay home for Christmas which is every two years!
That picture of Sadie sleeping on Ryan’s lap just melts my heart. She’s such a sweetie. Looks like a great Christmas!
Heya, your Christmas looked lovely- here in the UK everyone has a Turkey Christmas dinner, I honestly can’t imagine having anything else! I guess we don’t have Thanksgiving though š I definitely think you should keep the tradition going- nothing beats it! Jess x
What an awesome Christmas! That monkey bread has me drooling! I hope you have a great new year!
I’ve never made Monkey Bread but that one looks so good I think I need to give it a try!
Merry Christmas!!!! I am having 40% off my Etsy Shop until tomorrow – check it out š
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BCcrafts101?ref=search_shop_redirect
We als have monkey bread on Christmas! Deeeelish! Looks like you had a wonderful Christmas!
It’s a must-have in our house! š
What a very merry Christmas! I love the pictures of the dogs. They must be a hoot together!
Looks like ou had such a lovely holiday, and that is awesome you both were able to have the same time off for an extended visit! We had a nice holiday in Pittsburgh too.
Sadie is so adorable in all the pics! What a cutie!
Sounds lIle you had a fabulous trip! Can’t get over how adorable your dog is!
What a fun Christmas! Looks like the dogs had a great time too! Sadie is so cute š
Nothing makes me happier than a dog in a sweater.
What a wonderful Christmas!! Family time is always the best time! š
It looks like you had a wonderful Christmas! I love spending time with family, and friends, over the holidays!
Sounds wonderful Julie! Can you please elaborate on this Cheese Puff Casserole? I’m drooling in Memphis š
Yes! I’ll try to post the recipe soon! It’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s basically an egg and cheese dish that we all flip over on Christmas morning!
I’m back in California today after my week in Florida too. It was just wonderful being with friends and family. I swear I was in pajamas much of the time at home, which was just lovely. Glad you had fun! š
Merry Christmas! Oh, and definitely keep up the Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas! We’ve done that always & I love that we get two turkey dinners at the holidays. Wouldn’t miss it!
I wanted to let you know that I tried your Pineapple Souffle recipe as a side to our Christmas ham! It was a great addition so, many thanks for sharing your recipe!
So happy to hear this!! Thanks for reporting back, Lee!
Sadie is such a sweetie, I love the little shirt!
Did you get a new camera?! Love the pics!
It’s my brother-in-law’s camera. I love it! š
Fantastic resolution!
Do you know what type of camera it is? The pictures look great and my family is needing a new camera! š
Your pictures are great! Do you know what camera lens was used for the photos?
Having everyone together is the best! My sister, her boyfriend, my brother, and his girlfriend all came in from out of town, and it was so special. So glad you had such a wonderful Christmas!!
Looks like a wonderful holiday! So glad you got to take a break and fully enjoy the time. I have one more day with my family and then I head back home tomorrow.
Omg Sadie sleeping is the cutest! My dog was pretty worn out from all of her new toys as well, ha!
That brown-paper gift wrap is gorgeous. Glad you had a great Christmas š
I love hearing about your Christmas – in fact, I love hearing about everyone’s holiday traditions and agendas. (I always end up talking with my friends for a long time about THEIR various holiday schedules too.) Thanks for sharing your happenings, and it reminds me of all the memories I have about my own family. Looks like you guys really know how to make the most out of family time! What a fun day/week. Love the stockings over breakfast idea. What a great one! Sometime it would be lovely to hear about the stuff IN the stockings – i.e. it would be great to see a post with stocking stuffer ideas, I need some good ones!
Thanks for sharing! š
I love the dogs’ outfits!
Ross totally looks like Josh Groban!
looks like such a fun, family-filled holiday!
Sadie must have stayed up late waiting for Santa–she looks so sleepy in those pictures! Too cute.
Sounds like a lovely family holiday! That monkey bread is making my mouth water!!
Your Stockings are beautiful! Are they homemade or is there a place they can be purchased? Thank you!
My mom made them. š And thank you so much!! <3
Hi Julie,
I may be late in the game but was wondering when you moved to Charlotte? I live in Charlotte and was wondering if you knew of any meetup groups for beginner runners? I’m looking to train for my first 10K starting in February.
I appreciate your thoughts. I live in the North Charlotte area.
Thanks,
Heather