Holiday Festivities

Well, another holiday season quickly come and gone! The celebrations began on our last day of school before holiday break by wearing our best Tacky Christmas gear and having a little Holiday Party for the staff.

I decided to spend my first day of break visiting my old students at my old school. They got out of school a few days after I did, so I had so much fun surprising them! 

My team got together for a pot luck brunch and Secret Santa gift swap over the break. We decided to gift everyone a bottle of wine and a pair of earrings, and it was so much fun seeing what everyone ended up with! I made my trusty hash brown casserole to serve along a few other delicious dishes.

Hashbrown Casserole

Ingredients

1 package Simply Potatoes Shredded Hash browns

1 can cream of onion soup

1 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup diced onion

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake on 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until slightly browned.

Before heading to Athens for the rest of the break, I stopped by Kindred Studio for a facial. It was AMAZING! I highly recommend Kelly Painter for facial treatments. Afterwards, I headed home for our Annual Avery Christmas Party at my parents' house. We followed dinner with a fun (and competitive) game of trying to unwrap multiple boxes using oven mitts. The final box revealed a movie gift card! The night ended with some Christmas carols around the piano.

The Sunday before Christmas we made Christmas cookies with my nieces and nephews. My friend Claire joined us for the family festivities!

Christmas Eve was spent wrapping last minute gifts and prepping for the big day before heading to a Christmas Eve Service at church and then my sister's house for our traditional soup dinner. This year included a few cuddles with baby Hank!

Christmas was as magical as always. We waited for the rest of the family to join us at my parents' house before opening gifts. Some of my most favorite gifts were the Ciao Milano raincoat, a Prada wallet to match my purse, Lake pajamas, and a custom designed diamond necklace made from my grandmother's ring! After opening gifts, we enjoyed brunch together before playing with our new presents! We ended the day at Ben and Katie's house for a steak and potato dinner.

My mom and I ended the celebrating with a round of golf the day after Christmas. I sure love the chance to relax and reset for the New Year!