Ah, Christmas. Just when you think it's over, another blogger recaps her holidays. Sorry. Not sorry. (Are we phasing this phrase out now that it's 2016?)
Christmas Eve
Us Polish people make a way bigger deal of Christmas Eve than Christmas Day - it's when we go to church, open presents, and have a formal, vegetarian dinner. My mom always makes krokiety, which are my favourite thing in the world. There's nothing better than a breaded and fried breadcrumb roll. All the heart eyes.
I'm usually home on the 23rd (which is my birthday!), but this year we didn't make it up to Barrie until the 24th. We celebrated with a birthday cake on Christmas Eve.
Being an only child of two immigrants, Christmas is always a small affair. I deeply envy my friends who have big family dinners and celebrations. After visiting my family in Poland this past summer, their absence during the holidays was felt even more.
Shoutout to technology for being the real MVP of the holidays. There's my aunt and uncle skypeing in from Poland.
Annual family photo.
Present opening started off with the dogs this year. Zoey could smell exactly which gift was hers and wouldn't stop annoying us until we opened it.
Then she wouldn't stop annoying Dad until he played with her.
Mom's about to open some eyeliner and lipstick.
M got some special things from Frank and Oak. I got some special things from Anthropologie.
Wooden storage crates! Candles! Bath salts! I'm in heaven.
Wait! There's another present for the dogs! Zoey is waiting patiently for the treats she can smell.
I always request a letter from M. It's the only time I can get him to write me anything ;) I cherish these letters more than any other gift. They're so nice to read over again and again.
Now that Isis is getting older, she wasn't as big of a part of Christmas as usual. It's harder for her to walk up the stairs, so she only stuck around long enough to take some photos with us.
Christmas Day
Rejoice! It's time to eat meat again! Christmas Day breakfast is all about meats - smoked turkey, kielbasa, Hungarian sausage.
We decided that walking off all that food was in our best interest, so after breakfast we headed to the forest with Zoey and Isis.
Without fail, Zoey always picks the biggest stick in the forest to play with. This one is probably three times her length.
Dad was a good sport entertaining Zoey throughout the walk.
Living in Toronto means Zoey doesn't always have access to a forest. So when she comes to visit Barrie, she goes crazy with happiness.
It's always been our tradition to have the Svilaric's over for Christmas Day dinner. M's mom and dad were in Vegas, so this year we just had M's brother and his girlfriend over.
M and I made a cranberry sauce to go with the pork loin.
M's family dog, Ella, really wanted to join in on the festivities.
She's an adorable goldendoodle, and also the only dog that Zoey will play with.
Boxing Day
Before we left to go back home to Toronto, we tossed one of Zoey's new toys out in the backyard. The sound this pink ball emits is enough to make anyone go crazy. The squeak is so annoying that we refused to bring it back to Toronto with us.
So To appease Zoey for the next few weeks, we played with her and squeaked the ball a million times.
Goodbye Christmas 2015! It was green, warm, and enjoyed with great company.
