On Christmas Eve Eve, we hosted our 3rd Annual Christmas Scavenger Hunt. We decorated and cleaned the house. We drove all around town finding great Christmas decorations. We bought lots of goodies and drinks and snacks to share. We purchased and wrapped three gifts for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. And we sent out the evite to 21 families. Including our family, 60 people RSVP'd that they would come. Then, a winter storm threatened, the power grid went down (we were spared, but many in the area were not) and a nasty flu bug became rampant. And next thing we knew, we were down to just four families that were able to come. It was still 21 people including our family and we still had a good time, but it was disappointing that more people weren't able to make it.
On Christmas Eve, we headed to the movie theater with the entire Strom Family for our traditional Christmas Eve movie. We had the entire theater to ourselves!
We saw Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
And then we went to Pat's Select Pizza for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.
And then we all hopped in the car and went to see the lights! And cousins Becky and J joined us this year!
Our first stop was to see our very favorite tree!
Cousins pic.
Baby, it's cold outside!
Family pic
Becky and Jacque
Getting harder and harder to hold!
So. Many. Lights!! 
And then we lit the fire and gathered around to watch Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer
And we lit our German nativity, which had new meaning for us this year, since we were just there!
And we admired our brand new blown glass nativity from Nuremberg that we both fell in love with while walking the streets during Christkindlmarkt.
We went outside and put reindeer food in the lawn and we placed cookies out for Santa. Ella left her wish list (nothing like last minute! And nothing like far fetched wishes, considering her #1 and #2 are a cat and a dog respectively. And with #3 being a drum set, ..... 🥁😏
But I found both of her notes adorable. Especially the one to her elves, Jingle and Teeny. She left them a treat and a note that instructed them to not take the stocking but do take the food inside. She is so stinking cute!
And the final tradition of the day...... sibling sleepover!Full stockings!Looks like Santa came!
Christmas was on Sunday this year, so the original plan was to wake up, open stockings, leave at 8:30am for church (which is from 9-10) and then come home at 10:30 to enjoy the rest of Christmas.
HOWEVER, plans got sidelined due to the flu bug nailing us HARD!
A 24-hour stomach flu bug has been going through Ella's elementary school and nailing almost everyone. Ella came down with it Wednesday night. The poor girl puked her guts out for 12 solid hours and then was completely out of commission for the next 24 after that (literally did not leave her room). But by Thursday night/Friday morning, she was fine, so we went ahead with our party Friday night (although many other people couldn't come because of the same bug!) We were grateful none of the rest of us got sick and were grateful that at least it didn't hit us on our two favorite days of the year, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Until...... it was time to go to bed Christmas Eve and Riley announced she wasn't feeling well. In fact, it was very shortly after the "sleepover picture" was taken. That poor girl spent the rest of the night curled up in a ball of misery on the bathroom floor literally puking her guts out ALL NIGHT LONG. It was unrelenting. She was crying and whining and had horrible stomach cramps and non-stop vomiting that went from about 9pm Christmas Eve until about 1 or 2pm Christmas day. The worse of it was from 9pm Christmas Eve until about 10am Christmas. Which is why Riley and I are not pictured in the "Family Christmas Picture."
But the poor girl rallied, and in between puking sessions, she opened some gifts with us.
I ask for this every year. It's a "page a day" travel calendar. I love to see all the places I've been and dream of the places I have yet to visit.
Lacey actually had her own spending money this year since she's been doing so much baby-sitting. And she was very generous with all of us giving all of us some nice, fun things. She got Tanner a "Mr. Beast" sweatshirt that she was very excited about getting him and which he was very excited to receive!
The rest of the kids drew names. Tanner got Ella and got her a slushy maker cup, which was high on her wish list, so she was thrilled!
Cute hat, Ella!
It has a place for her pony tale to come out. Perfect for a sporty girl!
Salt joined in on the festivities too. We received Salt as a Christmas gift in 2016. Happy 6th birthday, Salt! We love having you in our family!
What's that, Lacey? A candle? Well, not just any old candle..... a "New York" candle. We explained when Lacey opened this that her "biggie" gift this year was a weekend with her Dad in NYC where she can do whatever she wants for the whole weekend. They plan to go in January which will coincide with her "Sweet 16" birthday.
Tanner got these awesome Night Vision goggles. But his "biggie" (which I didn't get a picture of - only video) was a plane ticket to Utah to go snowboarding with his cousins! He leaves in 2 1/2 weeks and it will be his very first "solo" flight. He can't wait!
Poor Riley couldn't even sit up to open her gifts or a wave of nausea would overcome her. But she definitely got a kick out of this shirt since she spends a good amount of her time in a goal box!
And speaking of tradition..... no Christmas is complete without the "Ashmore gifts." Riley was totally out of commission for this, so unfortunately she couldn't be part of the picture. MariCarmen Ashmore is a dear friend of my mother's and she sends all of us handmade gifts each Christmas. It's amazing! So, opening their "Ashmore gift" has become as much a part of their Christmas tradition as the movie, pizza, etc.
There's Riley! Once she felt good enough to open it. A handmade little container for however you want to use it. Riley plans to put it on her bookshelf and fill it with some of her "mini brand" collectibles.
Having some fun with their Ashmore gifts.
I stayed home with a recovering Riley while Dave and the other three headed over to his sister's house to have Christmas dinner, a small gift exchange and to play some games (playing Left Right Center here - Jacque won!). However, while they were there, Lacey started not feeling well and started throwing up. So they all came home and Lacey is now holed up in her room next to her bathroom and I expect a long night is ahead for her. And while I was putting this blog together, Dave announced that he wasn't feeling well I type this, I am listening to him vomit as well. As my mother would say, "it's always something!" 🤮
Tanner and I are the hold outs so far. Pray for us.... 😏😟
