Christmas at the Bakers

Christmas time is the best time to hang out at the Baker house. I talked about why the Holidays were my favorite in my last blog, but now I have picture proof of how Christmas is done at my house. I started break by doing the normal winter activities like going ice skating with my dad, taking family outings to see Mission Impossible and Sherlock Holmes, and hosting a number of fun dinners. Christmas Eve I went to both my church service and my boyfriend’s, opened a traditional new pair of pajamas and slept late on Christmas morning. Christmas Day was spent opening presents that I had shopped for and bought with my mom in the weeks prior to Christmas followed by our annual Christmas meal which we shared this year with my grandparents from Alabama. Though these aspects of Christmas are cherished memories and traditions, my favorite part of the Holidays is my house. 

For the entire Holiday season, the likelihood that something is baking in the oven is high. Everyone is welcome to come over at any odd hour and there is never a shortage of snacks, dips, chips, and cookies. This year my mom and I spent 10 hours one day baking all of our favorite Christmas cookies in preparation for a big Christmas party. We made 9 different kinds of cookies, 2 cakes and 3 types of dips! The party was a huge success and it was great seeing a bunch of my old high school friends. Having a reunion party with my freshman hall inspired me to host a party at home and I am so glad people were able to come eat all of my freshly baked goodies.

The house always smells of holiday cheer and there are plenty of decorations to keep you wandering. With both my mom and dad sharing a birthday just 6 days before Christmas, it is no surprise that this is their favorite time of year. My mom starts celebrating the day after Thanksgiving. Before the family can come home from our annual shopping, the house is completely turned around- the fall decorations are gone, and Christmas has begun. The dining room is transformed into a Christmas shrine of Santa’s Village Collectors houses complete with mirrors as pretend ice rinks and multiple levels of housing, all of which light up. The only thing you will not find at the Baker house during the Holiday season is counter space. Every surface that seems to pop up is soon filled with more pictures, frames, and decorations. When you walk through my front door, the first thing you see is our Baker sized tree, the stairs lined with Santa hats and ribbon, and a light up metal snow man. To the right you will see a line of wooden santa figures, and a table covered in decorative holiday candy, picture frames, and fake snow. To the left is the famous Santa table and then the transformed dining room. How we have collected so many decorations is a question that continues to baffle me year after year. The fact that we have enough Santas to fill an entire table is just something I don’t think anyone can understand. But, no matter how much counter space we are missing, I love the fact that my house is a Christmas explosion during the winter months. I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.