This Christmas Eve marked my parents’ 14th wedding anniversary. In celebration of this joyous occasion, my parents deep-cleaned the hardwood floors, vacuumed all the carpet, dusted every noticeable surface, de-fingerprinted all the glass and stainless steel, frantically threw every loose article, stray toy, and all un-filed paperwork into the office/closet, and then ordered me and sis to NOT. TOUCH. ANYTHING. I thought it was a strange way to spend the day, but to each their own.

Once mom and dad were done celebrating their anniversary, we put on our fancy clothes to take pictures in front of the tree before heading to Garrett & Morgan’s house for a Christmas Eve party! I demanded no bowtie because “I refuse(d) to look handsome.” Mom respected my wishes, and although she said I looked handsome despite the banned bowtie, I do think I was outdone by Genesee’s cute dress. (Thanks to Ashlee & Julie’s shopping skills!)

It was so exciting to break-in Morgan & Garrett’s new place! And by “break,” I don’t mean “destroy all their nice things,” although that did almost happen during a competitive game of Keep-Away. A few times. Too many.

Luckily, with no broken décor or broken bones, we all survived the fun of the night! Then, we eagerly returned home and left milk and cookies on the table to lure Santa to our tree, before snuggling into our pillows.

I’m pretty sure I fell asleep smiling.