Christmas 2021

 

And, just like that, Christmas has come and gone, but what a great Christmas it was!!  This time of year is so full of family and fun that it's hard to not have a holiday hangover when it's all over.  But, I ward that off by making sure we've got fun stuff planned for the months ahead and this year is no different.  But, before I turn my sights on what's next, I want to sit in the glow of the holidays a little bit longer.

This year's Christmas saw the return of some traditions we missed out on last year (thanks COVID) - we had McGrath Christmas on Christmas Eve (thanks to Uncle Tim and Aunt Lynda who had rapid at home tests for anyone that wanted them).  We staged ourselves in the garage at Tim and Lynda's new house (with a beer of course) while we waited the 15 minutes for the rapid results to come back.  After 4 green lights we knew we were good to celebrate with the group (it made me feel better knowing that we'd just been together with such a large group for Ryan's party less than a week before).  

Christmas Eve we had a nice full house!  Erin, Dan, and my parents were all here with us this year and again, we went to bed that night with full hearts knowing we were surrounded by the people we love, and Santa wasn't too far away!

Sweet girls!  They are always so good on Christmas morning.  The rule is that they can't go downstairs without us, but that they can open their stockings while the rest of the adults get themselves up.  Then, as soon as they set eyes on the presents I make them take a few pictures before we start opening and these are always some of my favorite photos of the year!  I have years and years of pictures just like this one, in their grandma jammies (Hazels are somehow missing...I know it's around here somewhere), in front of the tree.

This year we even managed a group picture before the chaos began!  I love these people so so much!  Santa was very good to all of us this year, but the biggest hit of Christmas was the hamsters!  Introducing Fern (Hazel's) and Olive (Abby, who originally named her Cookie but she had a name change a few days in).  I didn't expect to enjoy these little rodents so much, but they both are really quite sweet.  Poor Fern will be a WELL socialized hamster because Hazel loves that thing more than just about anyone else.  I asked her last night "do you love me or Fern more?" and she answered "both".  LOL!  Sweet girl!  I think that's a compliment to Fern :)

Since we did Ryan's party on the weekend that would traditionally have been Ritterbusch, we pushed our Christmas with my family back a few days and did it right after Christmas.  Of course, in true McGrath fashion we also hauled the dump trailer out and cut a load of wood while we were there.  But, more importantly, I made my first batch of dumplings!  I've helped before, and watched plenty of times, but this year I made the dough start to finish - of course Mom still helped- - it took a LOT of rolling to get them to this stage.  We made this batch using 9 eggs instead of the normal 7, meaning we almost ran out of counter space to roll the batch out!  

Pencil Nose was a big hit and nearly distracted the kids from the BIG gift which was suitcases for each kid to pack when we go to DISNEY in February.  All 10 of us, plus Erin and Dan (I think) will be down in Florida for a week in mid-Feb and I know I'm not the only one that is looking forward to having a warm vacation in just 6 weeks from now!  We rarely do big trips in the winter, it tends to be the time of year that we hibernate at home and get lots of home projects done...but this year we're headed to Florida for sun and theme parks.  I'm excited for the kids to have these memories with their cousins!

And, just like that, between Ryan's surprise party, Christmas and this big trip to Disney I feel like the cat is finally out of the bag on so many topics I've been keeping secret for months!  It feels great to finally come clean on so many subjects. We still have a small NYE gathering here at the house tomorrow night (we're doing a fancy Supper Club themed dinner, complete with costumes), but we're closing out 2021 with a bang and looking forward to everything 2022 has in store for us.  

Ryan's 40th Surprise Party

 

We pulled it off!!  A surprise birthday party for Ryan with a food truck, bonfires, beer and most importantly all of the people that we love most in the world.  I often think back on our wedding and that humbling feeling that so many people have put their lives on hold to show up to celebrate you on that day.  This party left me with all those same feels.  We had nearly 70 people come out to our house on December 18th, all dressed for the weather since we held the majority of the party outside in the back yard.

I started planning this party back in mid-September and there is no way I could have pulled it off without the help of so many people.  From Dan who picked up tables and chairs for us, to my parents who showed up around 11 am to help set up, with two big heaters and a fire pit it tow, to Erin who volunteered to make 50 mini dirt cakes, to Jamie who helped out with the hot coco and cider bar, to Chris and Brenna who showed up early to help set up Christmas lights....so many people showed up for me.

It was no small feat and honestly, keep the secret was much harder than I expected.  Partly because I started planning so early but mostly because there were about a million times when I said "Hum, I don't know...this is a Ryan question...but I can't ask him".  He even said it afterwards, "Man, this must have been pretty hard for you to do,  you had to come up with a lot of things that I'd normally just handle".  LOL!  He's not wrong!  From how many kegs to get, to the kinds of tapper we needed, to where the big party garbage bags where - it really was just a reminder that we're better as a team.

I was pretty worried about storing this stuff in the house.  Ryan was gone the week leading up to the party, but he was home for about 12 hours between landing in Chicago (from San Fran) and leaving the next morning to go and help Zach work on their new shop (our long ago planned distraction to get Ryan out of the house so we could set up).  I was pretty sure he wouldn't stumble on this closet in the basement, but it sure felt like a risk when I stacked it all in there the day before.

There was more than one time that I thought he was onto us - but he says he really didn't expect this party.  The story we told him was that he'd help Zach out during the day but that he needed to be home by 6pm so he could shower and be ready to go "do something" for his birthday with Jamie and Zach.  I told him I'd gotten a sitter and that was pretty much all the information I gave him.  He says he thought maybe we'd be going to a bar and "some people" would be there, but he did not expect a big house party with so many people.  At one point he told me "This is exactly the party I would have planned if I was planning my own party".

(Abby's face in some of these pictures just kill me...you can literally see the love written on her face).

Zach rode home with Ryan that night so he got a front row seat to his reaction - but I think this picture captures it pretty well.  When they were about 5 minutes away we rounded up the whole group of people and headed down to the end of the driveway so we could surprise him when he turned in.  We' hung some balloons out at the end of the driveway to help people find the way (it was dark by the time most people showed up - and I think the overwhelming darkness out here took people by surprise).  Ryan said the he caught of flash of the balloons as he pulled up and as he was slowly processing that, his headlights ran across a huge group of kids (I think we had about 25 kids here that night) and all he said was "that's a lotta kids!".  LOL!  He's not wrong!

There were so many people who made the long drive just 7 days before Christmas to celebrate Ryan.  We saw friends we hadn't seen in nearly 10 years, like Nate and Sue and Will - I know Ryan sure appreciated having all of his favorite people in one spot, all for him!

Jamie was so sweet to make sure to capture some pictures for us.  As I expected, it was a whirlwind of trying to talk to everyone and make sure everyone realized how thankful we were that they came.  So many people complimented me on the party, but honestly, like I told them, all I did was organize it - it's the PEOPLE that make the party....it wouldn't have been fun without them.  So, all I really did was facilitate it.

I'm just now realizing that we got exactly zero pictures of the food truck - which, I think was one of the best parts of the whole event.  It took me quite a while to find a food truck that was available and willing to come out here for us.  I stalked all of our favorite breweries and sent out messages for nearly a month before I was able to snag Que Pasta - a Mexican/Italian fusion truck that make tacos with an Italian spin.  It's a truck that travels around to our local breweries and we've had them a few times.  Their cauliflower tacos were a huge hit and I think everyone loved the food.  I loved that I was responsible for exactly ZERO things cooking wise - and having a food truck was certainly a novelty that most haven't already done.

I also had live music planned for us that night but unfortunately he canceled the morning of the party because he wasn't feeling well.  COVID is still very much a thing these days and leading up to the holidays the Omicron variant was going strong so we had a few people cancel because they weren't feeling well.  COVID was actually the reason that I'd planned an outside (mostly) party right here at the house.  At first I thought of trying to plan it at one of the breweries but I was worried about having things get canceled and I wanted to make it comfortable for people that were worried about being together with such a big crowd.  We have plenty of space here to host a party outside, so as long as people were willing I thought we could do a pretty nice party outside.  Chris started up two huge fires for us that evening and with the space heaters Mom and Dad rented for us, plus the heated shop that was all set up with tables and chairs for eating and hanging out, I think everyone felt pretty safe and, with hindsight I can say that we had no COVID scares!  

The week before the party I had myself all worked up about the kids and school.  I was SO WORRIED that they'd have a COVID exposure at school and that I'd need to send out a message to the group letting them know that and that people would have a choice to make about if they still wanted to come.  Ryan could not understand why I was so wound up about it (why was this week any different that one before??) but, he didn't know we had 70 people coming over that weekend.  Thankfully we made it through the week without an exposure and it all turned out just fine!  

I was a little bummed about the live music being canceled but we made due with the JBL and I think everyone had fun regardless.  It so nice to get everyone together for a big party and I can honestly say that our hearts were so full by the end of the night.  Ryan's genuine smile in these next few pictures show just how thankful he was.

It was a great way to kick off the holiday weeks ahead and a great (nearly) ending to the last 2 years of travel for him.  It's been a long two years with him traveling nearly every week and while there are a few more trips planned here in 2022, I think we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel here and this was a great way to celebrate that.  We're ready to have you home again Bub!

This party turned out to be everything I'd hoped for when I first started planning it.  THANK YOU to everyone who helped make it a success!

1 Family x 12 (December)

 

This past weekend we had a surprise party for Ryan's 40th and it's left our hearts feeling very very full!  I have a fully blog post coming up (with lots of pictures, thanks Jamie!) - but, for now, our monthly family photo...complete with Carhart tuxedos.  

Frozen on Broadway!

Guys!  We got to see Anna and Elsa in REAL life!  Frozen on Broadway was set to come to Chicago back in December 2020 and we had tickets to take the kids along with Joey and Kayden, Mom and Erin.  We were all set to go, and maybe even get back stage to meet the cast (Erin knows one of the ensemble cast) but, for all the reasons you already know, it was canceled.  So, when they offered tickets again earlier this year, we snapped up 7 tickets - giving the girls their first ever Broadway experience!  

Between Erin being in shows and Ellyn's love of theater, the kids have already been to a handful of shows in Aurora or Lincolnshire, but the real deal is a big deal!  We had a lovely girls day in the city, starting with brunch at Erin's new condo.  It was lovely to be able to bring Mom and Joey to see her new house all decorated up for Christmas. 

 The show was great.  I cried, I laughed, we sang along.  The kids did amazing and it was so fun to dress up pretty and do something fancy just before Christmas.  The girls even got a video message from Elsa herself.  She told us that she was going to sign Let It Go just for Abby, Hazel and Kayden.  (All the heart eyes)!  Here's to many more shows ahead. 

Christmas Lights

We live in a relatively rural area where there aren't a ton of neighborhoods and houses meaning that round us, there aren't a ton of houses all lit up for Christmas.  Add in that we aren't currently doing after school activities (like gymnastics or ballet or whatever) and all of a sudden I realized that the kids don't really get to see many Christmas lights.  So, a couple of weeks ago when we were out and about (getting them a COVID test to go to the musical later that weekend), I decided that since everyone was happy, and I wanted Sushi, we'd drive around "in town" looking at all the lights.  I forget, as an adult, how much JOY the simple lights bring to the kids.  I got to spend the evening seeing things through their eyes and honestly, I think that's what makes this season so special.  It's like we all get to be little kids again, even just for a bit.  

But, that night of driving around was NOTHING compared to the light display Mom found for us this year.  One evening a week or so ago we met them in Rockford, along the river and walked through the most magical little area.  It wasn't huge, the perfect size for an evening adventure.  It was free, it was outside and not at all crowded...and bonus!  There was a hot chocolate truck outside (Mom even thought to bring some "adult add-ins").  

It was a really nice, low key holiday activity for us and I think everyone was glad we did it!

If you're local to Rockford, it's called All Aglow and it's located in the Nicholas Conservatory.  Worth the drive!  Plus, look at all these great pictures.  Hard to not smile when you see all those beautiful lights.

Man, I love these humans so much!

Oh, and I couldn't help but include these sweet letters here for posterity.  Hazel's says "Dear Santa, We've been good this year.  I hope I get everything on my Christmas list.  Love Hazel".  I love those little letters so much!  It's such a short time between those adorable wobbly letters and the letters of a fourth grader (below).  Goes by in the blink of an eye!

 

Christmas Cookies

When I was in high school I got on a kick one year where I wanted to make fancy frosted sugar cookies.  I'm not sure exactly what possessed me, or why I decided to do it, but one year I spent hours making sugar cookies - decorating them with a piping bag and a frosting tip - making little tiny stars of frosting to cover the entire cookie.   It took SO much time, but everyone loved them so much, I sort of fell into making them for quite a few years.  Sometimes I enjoyed the process, sometimes I didn't, but I always loved the compliments from friends and family. 

Then, during college I started working for Walgreens in the stores, and my holidays quickly became the busiest work season for me, working long long hours, stuck in the store on all the holidays.  I no longer had time for fancy cookies, or really even to shop for Christmas.  I started doing my shopping in June when it wasn't so stressful and the holidays quickly became one of my least favorite times of the year.  It took me a LONG time to begin to enjoy the holidays again after leaving Walgreens but I'm here to say that I've lost my inner Grinch and I'm back to loving this time of year (including making cookies)!

Ellyn was known for her elaborate Christmas cookie trays and I imagine that while part of her loved it each year, the tradition of it, the compliments, part of her also sort of dreaded the job.  Maybe not!  Maybe I'm just inferring that from my own experience - but, I feel like you can't make millions of billions of cookies and not feel a little stressed about the whole thing at some point.

When Ellyn passed away in 2018, I offered to help Erin carry on the tradition and it really is a fun thing for us to do to get into the spirit of the season.  This year we tried something a little different and Erin spent the week here.  We'd both work remotely during the day, and then spend our evening chugging through recipe after recipe of cookies. 

We made a huge batch this year - 6 different recipes, many of them double or triple batches to make sure we've got enough.  We baked and baked and baked and then frosted until we were tired of it.  But, the cookie boxes and trays we make and gift throughout the season really are worth all the effort.

We gift boxes to friends and family, to teachers and service providers that help make our lives easier.  We bring trays to each and every holiday party we attend...and, don't give me too much credit, we eat PLENTY of these ourselves - LOL!.  My favorite are the peanut butter blossoms and I made SURE to make a triple batch this year. 

So, today, on December 15th, I'm happy to report that we still have plenty left to get us through the holiday season!  I just gifted the last of the Russian Tea Cakes (sorry Dan).  But, if you're seeing us in the next few weeks, and hoping there are cookies left, just know that you're in luck!

Oh!  I almost forgot!  We found a new cocktail that we love :)  It's called a Pisco Sour and it's made using egg whites and lemon, both things we need in our cookie recipes.  So, I think this might become the official drink of the cookie palooza each year.  It's real good guys!  Real, real good!