Some Traditions You Just Can't Shake - Christmas 2021

Eight years ago we started a tradition with the Abrahams called Tape Ball. Over the years even as we have had different travel plans for the holidays we always made sure to carve out a night for this family fun. The last couple of years that night has been on Christmas Eve. It provides the right balance of the reason for the season - church service - with some competitiveness over silly gifts. Reese is now older than Ella was when we started this. Boy does time fly!

We are also happy to report that tears are no longer associated with the evening. However, sassy and manipulative moves are still a part of the game. 

The Abrahams hosted the event this year, which means a good meal, lots of treats, and the need to protect the gifts, food, and tape ball from their lovable dog, Scout.

Reese has no problems with these added responsibilities if she gets extra time with the cuddly guy. It doesn't matter how many times she leaves their house sniffling or with puffy eyes. She wants to get right in there and give Scout as much love as he can handle. And she is willing to pay the price. It was another great evening with the Abrahams, especially because we got to welcome Ella back from her first semester of college. 

Every year brings some new decorations to our Christmas array. Last year, Sarah bought the light up PEACE sign. (It was technically after Christmas Day, but still counts) This year we bought batteries so that we actually had them lit up for Christmas morning.

As you can see, Santa was good to all members of the Bowes family. We are not sure we all deserved it, but we're not going to question the jolly guy.

We are fortunate in that Christmas morning continues to be relatively mellow around here. The girls didn't wake up until around 8am, and Callie would have slept longer if not for Reese. This allowed us plenty of time to prepare the quiches for the oven so we could eat after we unwrapped.

And there were certainly a few things to unwrap. Reese in particular had a year where her gifts could be piled higher than she stands. She didn't know it when we took this picture, but at the very bottom of the pile was a snow-cone making machine, which we thought would be a big hit.

On the other hand, Callie is getting taller and her gifts seem to be getting smaller. For Callie, the big gift this year was a pair of AirPods. She was pretty happy to say the least.

What we have really enjoyed seeing over the years, however, is the joy each girl takes in the other's happiness. We are at a magical place where the girls look to open their gifts together and pay attention to what each person has opened. They are curious of course, but more than anything excited to share in the happiness of the person opening the gift. In fact, this year Reese spent several days after school making crafts for each one of us, wrapping them up all on her own, and putting them under the tree. She was as excited to watch us open her creations as she was to open her own gifts. And her crafts were quite impressive. The rest of our Christmas Day was mellow. We enjoyed eating some snow cones and spent a few hours watching a great documentary series on Planet Earth. The Abrahams came over for dessert later in the evening with Kelly's mom and stepdad, which led to some entertaining conversation.