December 2020 Update

We had the most lovely December and I didn’t want it to end. Our family has so many holiday traditions and I love them all!

We started off December 1st with our Advent tradition. This year we opted for a Playmobil set instead of legos because they had a hockey set but our devotions were the same. Skylar woke up asking to do Advent every single day and it was the best!

Mike and I finished our 10 weeks of ice skating lessons. It worked out to be perfect timing for us to be able to join Skylar at her team’s holiday party and enjoy some ice time with her. We had so much fun! Even Skylar said that it was the best event of her whole year. Her hockey coach put on my figure skates and took a few spins around the rink. All of the girls thought that was the coolest thing ever!

For my birthday this year Mike surprised me by purchasing land in Scotland. It’s a whopping 2 sq ft but it was enough to be able to officially register me as “Lady Staci Bishop” – how cool!

Christmas week was, hands down, amazing! We started our Harry Potter marathon a week in advance which we all love. We also spent the Sunday before with Mike’s family, which Skylar lovingly calls “Christmas at Grandmas.” She has her own countdown for that each year.

Skylar also developed an interest in Hanukkah this year so we did our best to learn some of the traditions and we lit the menorah for the corresponding nights. However, we saved the traditional meal for Christmas Eve. Even though I had never prepared any of these types of foods everything turned out really nice. I also managed to make everything gluten-free so that I could eat it too. The matzo ball soup and latkes were definitely keeper recipes! I was off all day on Christmas Eve and that’s when I did most of the cooking. Ben spent Christmas with us again this year and I also finished up my new Christmas puzzle. The whole week of Christmas came with a content and happy feeling – it felt extra special this year!

I started Christmas shopping in early November this year and that helped alleviate a lot of the stress so close to Christmas. My gift-giving was on point this year, if I do say so myself. Skylar was a huge help when I got stuck trying to come up with an idea for someone. In the end, I think each and every gift was perfectly suited to the gift recipient. I received some pretty amazing gifts too including a plant and row covers for my garden.