Friedman Family Christmas: Part One – Christmas Eve

Whew. What a whirlwind. I’m writing this post Thursday night. The boys were sent to bed early on account of no napping. We just had a few visitors (who had some really exciting news but more on that later) and it is just Craig and I on the couch.

Christmas week is over. I head back to work tomorrow (today) to work the weekend. I’m exhausted. The house is finally coming back together after the monstrous influx of new toys and games. Craig and I have spent the week together but it feels like we haven’t seen each other at all from all the running we’ve been doing.

I worked Christmas Eve Eve overnight so I hit the ground running after work. I braved the crowds at Walmart which was a lofty task even for 7 am. I got a ton of groceries and finished up some last minute gifts.

Then it was off to the meat locker. I LOVE meat. I feel like I get the best variety, quality, and prices if I go straight to the locker. I go to Polasheks locker in Protivin Iowa about every other month and buy about $100 of meat. They have amazing brats, brat patties, venison, sausage etc. I get prime rib if we are feeding extra fancy. So I decided to gift that to Craig’s parents and grandparents this year. I got all of this meat for $127 straight from the building it was “processed” in. Doesn’t get closer to the farm than that! Each family got a Walmart reusable bag full of meat. It was a hit!

I got home and ran around the house like a crazy woman while mom had the boys. I had so much to get done and even though I hadn’t slept yet, I needed to get stuff done! By the time Craig got home, we loaded up the boys and were off.

Oh, and we stopped to play with mom’s new puppy Rosie 🙂

Then we headed to Craig’s parents house about an hour away on Christmas Eve. I again had to stop at Theisens and do some more shopping/returns on the way. I got about 15 minutes of sleep in the car.

We usually do soup – more specifically oyster soup – at Craig’s parents. It was delicious.

Then it was time to open presents:

We headed back home around 7 because we STILL had more to do to get ready for Christmas the next day.

That’s all I have for now friends! I’ll give you the recap of Christmas Day TOMORROW! Check back at 5:30 am. It’s just too much for one post and I think Craig and I are headed to bed.