We have returned to St. Louis after a wonderful visit in Wheaton and Indiana. We got in late on the 21st and celebrated with a few gifts, Krista's 21st birthday (on Dec. 20th). On the 22nd, we enjoyed seeing and visiting with friends. We started our morning off by seeing Kelsey and Tim - it's been too long. The visit was too short, but worth every minute to catch up and give Kelsey lots of hugs. We also enjoyed visiting with the Klobucher girls, the Gerry clan, James Grout and Allie Showalter. It was nice to have a day to see people we don't usually get to see on our short trips home.
Our Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve morning. We headed over to the Haist's and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict. We had fun visiting, opening gifts and squeezed in one more delicious meal of Rubens for lunch. It was fun to relax and enjoy eachother for the morning. Christmas Eve evening we headed to Blanchard Alliance Church for a beautiful candle lit service with the Dean's and then headed over to Aunt Chrissy & Uncle Len's house for appetizers/dinner and the gift exchange. The house was decorated beautifully, and the food was delicious. We enjoyed visiting with family.
Christmas morning we woke up and excitedly came downstairs to see what Santa brought. He was good to everyone (maybe too good!). We enjoyed opening gifts, and a beautiful breakfast of Egg Casseroles, Laffsa and Mr. Clausen's Danish ring. Delicious! It was fun to have the morning to relax, visit and enjoy each other before heading off to Indiana with the Haist's. Leaving on Christmas Day will probably never get easier for me. However, it was a JOY to spend time with the Sundheimer clan on Christmas evening. We enjoyed visiting and hearing all about little Violet (soon to be born to Molly & Ross). It was fun to celebrate Molly that day too. The Sundheimers are a fun group to be around!
The celebrating didn't stop there! We headed to Warren to Grandma & Grandpa's condo on the 26th to celebrate yet another Christmas with the Haist's. It was wonderful. We had the gift exchange, and enjoyed yummy food and time with family. We were thankful we all got to be there, even Gretchen from London! We missed Peggy and John and their family, but are praying for Jake and a full recovery from a concussion earlier this year.
The night of the 26th we drove back to Wheaton. The next afternoon, Sam and I took a mini getaway downtown Chicago for the night. We decided this year instead of gifts for each other, we would plan a fun trip downtown. We got an awesome deal on Groupon for the Whitehall Hotel and ate at one of our all time favorite restaurants that evening, Rosebud. It was fun to walk around downtown and see the lights, and do a little window shopping. We slept in the next morning and then enjoyed breakfast and a walk to Intelligentsia (of course), where we enjoyed the perfect cappuccino. It was a great way to relax and "debrief" after having five Christmas celebrations in 3 days!
The trip was wonderful. We couldn't have asked for a richer time spent with family, visiting and soaking up the gift of Jesus' birth. We were also overwhelmed with the beautiful gifts we received. We have some great gift-givers on both sides of the family! Every gift was perfect. We are beyond thankful for the gift of family. God is good.
We hope all of you found yourselves enjoying the Christmas season and lavishing in the celebrations of our Savior's birth. C.S. Lewis says it beautifully-
"In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down...down to the very roots and sea-bed of the Nature he has created. But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world us with Him."
Lots of Love.
Katelyn, Sam & Ethel
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| 1.) Besties reunited. Breakfast w/ Kels & Tim at Egglectic. |
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| 2.) Delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict at w/ the Haist's. |
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| Ethel loved her new Christmas sweater from the Haist's! |
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| 3.) Christmas morning, waiting patiently to see what Santa brought! |
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| 4.) Yummy Christmas morning breakfast @ the Dean's. |
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| 5.) The Whitehall Hotel- A fun getaway with my cute husband. |
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