Christmas with my family has come and gone. Obviously this year Christmas was very different than in years past. This was our first Christmas without Shawn and while we continued on with most of our normal traditions, not having Shawn here was not far from any of our minds.
Christmas around our house has always been a big deal. For as long as I can remember our house always had the biggest Christmas light display on our street. My dad and I used to spend lots of time fixing lights, changing burnt out bulbs, and covering every tree in our yard, and sometimes the neighbors yard, with as many bulbs as possible. This year I wasn't home as much around Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas like I usually am to help out, and my Dad was busy with work and other things. For the first time in a few decades our outside display was visibly scaled back, a sign that this year was different for us.
Inside the house always get the royal treatment as well. My mom collects manger scenes, angels, and snowmen that are always prominently displayed throughout the house during the holidays. We always have two Christmas trees, one artificial tree is placed in the front living room window and displays all the ornaments we get from our annual trip to Bronners, the other tree is a smaller live tree placed in the family room that matches the snowman theme.
This year we took a little bit different take on the live tree. Instead of the traditional Christmas Tree my mom and sister decided to buy a potted blue spruce tree that can be planted in the yard. We turned this tree into a memorial tree for Shawn and placed a few of his football ornaments and and angel that was sent to us from a funeral home with Shawn's name, birthdate, and date of death. We'll keep the tree inside for a few more days and then we will plant it in Shawn's memory out in the front yard.
Christmas morning found us in our "normal" routine. Erika was able to come up and visit with me and my family so we had our first Christmas together here at my parents house. We got up in the morning and opened presents while our traditional Christmas breakfast quiche cooked in the oven. Each of us "kids" took turns opening our presents from Santa and then we took a break for breakfast. After the food we returned back to the living room where our parents opened their gifts. While no one really said anything we all noticed and felt different with the fact that Shawn wasn't here this year. The chair he typically sat in in the morning was empty and my sister and I shared the responsibilities Shawn had for passing out the presents. There was obviously a noticeable empty seat at the table, and it was different not having college football games on our TV 24 hours a day 7 days a week. For me personally it was not watching the Christmas Story with Shawn that made this Christmas so different. Shawn first introduced me to the Christmas Story when he and Jenny started dating. I instantly enjoyed it and because it is on every year for 24 hours before Christmas we used to watch it all the time. This year Jenny and I turned it on for a few minutes but it just wasn't the same. Instead I honored this tradition by wearing my "Christmas Story" t-shirt I got from my mom last year.
All in all though we had a great Christmas. Sure it was different and we might not of had all the lights or decorations out but I think we enjoyed the scaled back version of Christmas just the same. Of course we had Porter and Little Bo running all around the house providing the much needed comic relief. These two dogs keep us very busy and are starting to become good friends. It should be interesting to see how they get along as "Little Bo" becomes "Big Bo". For now I'm happy that Porter finally has found a dog friend he can get along with and not start a fight. Let's hope it stays that way.
Christmas around our house has always been a big deal. For as long as I can remember our house always had the biggest Christmas light display on our street. My dad and I used to spend lots of time fixing lights, changing burnt out bulbs, and covering every tree in our yard, and sometimes the neighbors yard, with as many bulbs as possible. This year I wasn't home as much around Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas like I usually am to help out, and my Dad was busy with work and other things. For the first time in a few decades our outside display was visibly scaled back, a sign that this year was different for us.
Inside the house always get the royal treatment as well. My mom collects manger scenes, angels, and snowmen that are always prominently displayed throughout the house during the holidays. We always have two Christmas trees, one artificial tree is placed in the front living room window and displays all the ornaments we get from our annual trip to Bronners, the other tree is a smaller live tree placed in the family room that matches the snowman theme.
This year we took a little bit different take on the live tree. Instead of the traditional Christmas Tree my mom and sister decided to buy a potted blue spruce tree that can be planted in the yard. We turned this tree into a memorial tree for Shawn and placed a few of his football ornaments and and angel that was sent to us from a funeral home with Shawn's name, birthdate, and date of death. We'll keep the tree inside for a few more days and then we will plant it in Shawn's memory out in the front yard.As mentioned we always make an annual pilgrimage to Bronners, the worlds largest Christmas store, in Frankenmuth, MI. Generally we go before the holiday but this year's weather took that option away so we went Saturday morning instead. Despite the fog we were able to make it there and continue the tradition of each family member picking out an ornament. Jenny even found an ornament that says "Christmas in Heaven" and had the Bronners staff personalize it with Shawn's name and the date. (We also found two Boston Terrier Dog ornaments that we had personalized with Porter and Bo's names)
Christmas morning found us in our "normal" routine. Erika was able to come up and visit with me and my family so we had our first Christmas together here at my parents house. We got up in the morning and opened presents while our traditional Christmas breakfast quiche cooked in the oven. Each of us "kids" took turns opening our presents from Santa and then we took a break for breakfast. After the food we returned back to the living room where our parents opened their gifts. While no one really said anything we all noticed and felt different with the fact that Shawn wasn't here this year. The chair he typically sat in in the morning was empty and my sister and I shared the responsibilities Shawn had for passing out the presents. There was obviously a noticeable empty seat at the table, and it was different not having college football games on our TV 24 hours a day 7 days a week. For me personally it was not watching the Christmas Story with Shawn that made this Christmas so different. Shawn first introduced me to the Christmas Story when he and Jenny started dating. I instantly enjoyed it and because it is on every year for 24 hours before Christmas we used to watch it all the time. This year Jenny and I turned it on for a few minutes but it just wasn't the same. Instead I honored this tradition by wearing my "Christmas Story" t-shirt I got from my mom last year.All in all though we had a great Christmas. Sure it was different and we might not of had all the lights or decorations out but I think we enjoyed the scaled back version of Christmas just the same. Of course we had Porter and Little Bo running all around the house providing the much needed comic relief. These two dogs keep us very busy and are starting to become good friends. It should be interesting to see how they get along as "Little Bo" becomes "Big Bo". For now I'm happy that Porter finally has found a dog friend he can get along with and not start a fight. Let's hope it stays that way.Here is a short video of the dogs playing. I've got more but this stupid thing won't let me upload them. I'll keep trying.
Enjoy! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
