There is No Place Like Home for the Holidays

I cannot believe Christmas is already over!  I know everyone says this but seriously the month of December flew by, and so did our trip home.  I can't believe this is our third Christmas being married-- and every year it just keeps getting tricker.  The first year we were married, we lived in Stafford and so did both of our parents.  Last year, we lived in Florida but both of our parents were still in Stafford.  This year, we live in Mississippi and Rob's parents have moved to Charleston and my parents are the only ones holding down "home base" in Stafford!  Throw in the fact that both of our parents still celebrate the holidays with both of sides of their families and you'll get the craziness of our trip!  Four families, three states, and all in seven days?  We might be crazy but we made it happen!


We flew into DC on the 20th and spent the night with my parents before heading down to Richmond to celebrate Christmas #1 with Rob's mom's side of the family.  We spent the day hanging out with Rob's family, grandparents, and cousins and had a big dinner at Crab Louie's before Neil, Jen, and Dylan had to go home.  The next day we had lunch (and spiked limeades of course!) at The Continental and checked out the Christmas decorations at The Jefferson before driving back to Stafford.


Our time in Stafford was pretty low key.  Rob still had some gifts to finish so we had to brave the crazies at the mall.  We hoped to meet up with friends but all of our schedules were just too hectic to make it happen.  We did manage to squeeze in a quick T25 workout in Simcik's Gym (my parents basement!) though!  My brother and sister were both home from college so we went out for wings and exchanged presents with each other.

On Christmas Eve, Rob's mom, dad, sister, and cousin all drove up from Richmond and stopped at my parents for lunch.  My mom set up a soup and panini bar and it was great for everyone to catch up.  From there, Rob and I followed the Reddys to Maryland for Christmas #2.  We went to Christmas Eve Mass with all of Rob's Dad's side of the family, then back to Rob's Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner and drinks.  We spent the night in Maryland and woke up for presents and mimosas.

We left Maryland after breakfast and made the drive to Pittsburgh for Christmas #3.  We met up with my family and headed to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family.  Every year my Dad's side of the family does 3 gift exchanges: Girls grab bag, Guys grab bag, and a White Elephant gift exchange.  These exchanges can get pretty heated and the stealing can get vicious!  Rob and I both ended up with pretty good gifts in our respective exchanges (yankee candles and a heated coffee mug) and our gifts were well received (a gold purse/statement necklace and a golf bag cooler filled with beer)

The next day we celebrated Christmas #4 with my mom's side of the family.  We grabbed Primanti's for lunch (what is a trip to Pittsburgh without it!) and did a Secret Santa exchange with everyone there.  All of the cousins ended up in a pretty competitive game of Evil Apples before calling it a night.  The next day we flew home to Mississippi out of Pittsburgh.  We were delayed for a while in Dallas but luckily we knew 9 of the 30 people on our tiny flight ;)  It was a lot of traveling but it's worth it to see everyone!


Do you alternate holidays or try to split your time and see everyone?