Boswell Christmas 2021, part 4 (final? we'll see...)

This post is, essentially, a catch-all of the pictures and moments that didn't fit in the previous posts. I'm a documenter and cannot be stopped.

We were so sad that we didn't get to see Aunt Jenny and Uncle Chris in person , but the girls had a blast with their Christmas gifts! Aunt Jenny is sort of a wizard at choosing really good gifts for the Boswell girls.

Their haul from the Hydes.

Claire made this portrait and frame as her personal gift to Gran and Grandpa.

Hallie made a new friend:

Poor, sweet Brad was helping wash the dishes and dropped one, which broke and sliced his hand open very thoroughly. The good news is that we had 2 doctors and 2 physician's assistants in the house. They got it taken care of.

The morning that we were packing up to leave, Hallie started throwing up. It was unexpected and very sad. Thankfully, she had stopped vomiting and was doing a little better by the time we needed to get on the road.

She was really pitiful. And she didn't like being naked, but what can you do?

We so enjoyed all of our Christmas visits and the chance to see so many members of our family. We don't take these opportunities for granted, for sure. I don't know when we'll all be together again, but I'm glad we managed it this time.

Boswell Christmas 2021, part 3

Both our family and Tim's family had babies in 2020, but Christmas 2021 was the first time that we all got to meet each other's babies! 

Babies playing with each other...it was adorable.

Babies in Christmas jammies

We spent a lot of time playing on the floor with babies and new Christmas toys.

Lots of time was spent snuggling.

We destroyed the living room with present opening.

One of the girls' 12 days of Christmas gifts was a gingerbread house kit that we did together.

And we made a lot of puppets from a craft kit the girls' got for Christmas.

We took full-family pictures one day, and then we snapped a few of the girls, which I love.

Are they not so cute?

The whole crew

Our crew

The girls were given a puppet-making kit and were also given The Muppets Christmas Carol, and they decided to stage a puppet show of A Christmas Carol. We all found this sign inviting us to the show (and reminding us NOT TO BE LATE).

They pressed Grandpa into service for instrumental support and Ray Ray for vocals.

It was an evening of gusto and enthusiasm.

It was a really rare and special opportunity for all of us to be together. We were very thankful for such a merry opportunity.

Boswell Christmas 2021, part 2

We had a really nice family Christmas. The girls loved their gifts from us (which is always gratifying), and everyone was in a good mood (no overwhelm leading to meltdowns, which is always a concern on Christmas, as you know). This year, we also decided to try a new-to-us approach to gift-giving: we went very modestly on Christmas morning (that part isn't exactly new, though) and then had a small something for the girls to open each morning of the 12 days of Christmas, in an effort to solidify in their minds the concept of Christmastide. I, personally, loved it! We had purchased a set of books for all of them to share, so we split the books up and wrapped several of those individually to serve as gifts on a few different days (one gift for all on those days, not three books per day). We also had new packs of colored pencils for each of them on one day, new drawing pads for another, fancy hot chocolate packets for another...it was very fun for me to choose little things for them.

Claire's face of genuine excitement when she put in the last piece of their new Christmas puzzle into place.

Then the posed picture.

Snacky treats for the baby

One of my Christmas gifts from Brad

Why Sadie even comes into the same room as the rest of us is beyond me...

New dress for Christmas! Not weather-appropriate, but who cares?

This one. Such opinions about her clothing.

Got a good family picture to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

We truly had the best Christmas morning. All the random details came together for a low-stress day together. Very merry, indeed.