Christmas in Shafferland

Before it gets to be January and Christmas was (literally) so last year, I thought I'd let you peek into some of the fun we had this Christmas!

I always struggle with Christmas recaps because I feel no one might actually want to see every present every person in all our families opened over the course of three days. You're welcome. So I thought I'd try to pick some of the highlights of the celebrations and show you!

Our first Christmas was with Ryan's mom, step-dad, and siblings, and it was out at the beautiful log cabin in the woods. Even though his mom had just been in the hospital, the place looked beautiful!

We listened to a reading of Luke 2 (ironically read by Luke, but not the original one) before opening gifts.

And then Sunday brought Christmas with Ryan's dad, step-mom, siblings, and extended family:

 Staring contests...

 Figuring out new toys...

Ryan and I had our Christmas at home together, which was delightful and low-key:

And then it was off to celebrate with my family. This is my favorite picture of Ryan from the day. We were in the middle of opening presents when my dad walked across the room and stepped on one of those big plastic bags used for packing in a box. It popped and sounded like a gunshot. Once we realized what had happened, we all cracked up, and Ryan's belly laugh is THE BEST.

Our last Christmas of the day was with Ryan's step-dad's extended family, and Ryan won the game. He was excited! (I didn't play. This side of the family is competitive, and I figured I'd end up in tears.)

A full but good Christmas!! Now to write my thank you notes...