new traditions

One of the best parts of the holidays, as an adult, is combining old family traditions in a way that works for your own family, and creating your own.  I hope we created one by accident this year and we have a few other new fun holiday things and goings-on at the Heimer Haus.  

On Tuesday we enjoyed the neighborhood sleigh ride and dinner.  This was not the first sleigh ride, but was the first that included dinner and drinks.  When I got an email before 3 pm saying the "Gator juice," (gators are our swim team) was available at the clubhouse, I wondered if we unknowingly moved to an enclave of alcoholism?  When in Rome, though, right?  We headed over about half an hour before our scheduled sleigh departure and encountered chaos that put breakfast with Santa to shame.  Christmas movies on the projector meant lots of normal seating was removed so it was hard to find a place to eat.  The food and drinks were great though, and the ride was the perfect time and passed some beautiful lights.  Next year we will get there early and hopefully ride with a sleigh full of friends.

after the chaos and when snapping a pic even entered my mind :(

 
Tonight, Christmas Eve eve, we had to take Hayes to Kansas (Aurora) for a check-up at the vet the rescue Santa works with directed us to.  Because it was on the same street as one of my favorites, The Bagel Deli, we stopped for take out on the way home.  Not cooking on Christmas Eve eve was brilliant and warm matzo ball soup on what will likely be a chilly night makes perfect sense to me.  New tradition-check!

Hayes, Ben and I waited impatiently in the car.

We did learn our sweet Hayes is a couple weeks younger than we thought.  This doesn't mean much other than an extra vaccination appointment or two and that he will be bigger than we were thinking, which is a great thing!

I also finally found the perfect Mexican nativity.  I've wanted to get one for Ben, to honor his Mexican heritage, since his second Christmas.  I'd been hoping we might get there for a vacation, where he could choose it himself, but went ahead and ordered one this year.  It's from the Tonala region, one of two areas where pottery was and is less influenced by European immigration into Mexico.  It means little to Ben now, but I hope it will become a treasure to him over the years.

Mr. Elf, as he was re-named this year, hung out with the celebrities for a day.