Christmas 2025 will forever be remembered as “The One Where Leah Had Flu A.” She woke up on the first Monday of Winter Break with a 104° fever, and I immediately sent her back to her room to rest. A home test the next morning confirmed that she had Flu A (a particularly nasty super strain that had been making the rounds in our area).
Beanie had come to visit for a few days before Christmas, and Grandpa was already on his way to our house when we discovered Leah was sick. Because Grandpa needs to stay healthy due to his low white blood count and ongoing maintenance chemo, we had him stay with Mimi and adjusted our plans where possible to outdoor gatherings to minimize exposure. Leah quarantined in her room, and we did our best to make the holiday feel special despite the circumstances.
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| Porch picnic with fire pit |
Leah watched the livestream of the Christmas Eve service while we attended church in person. Afterward, we had dinner at our house and FaceTimed her so she could still be part of our annual traditions: Cookies for Santa and reading “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
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| This dog has so much personality |
All is Calm, All is Bright...
Christmas Morning included breakfast, stockings, and gifts:
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| Our annual photo of the kids waiting on the steps looked a little different this year! |
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| She really was such a good sport about everything |
Santa brought beautiful weather! The day was warm and sunny, with a high of 76 degrees, and Leah opened presents on the porch so that we could see her and include her in our celebrations:
By Friday, Leah had been fever-free for a couple of days and was feeling better, so we traveled to Williamsburg as planned for Cousins' Christmas:
I love walking around Colonial Williamsburg and it is especially lovely during the holidays:
Our annual family party with the Offutt cousins is always a wonderful celebration filled with gifts, games, and food. This year, we gathered in the Youth Room at Bean & Poppy's church, and this was the perfect spot for our large group:
Cousins' Christmas is fun for the humans AND the pets!
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| Resting after playing all those games with the kids. |
Back at Bean and Poppy's, we held our Winterhoff family gift exchange and birthday party for Jesus. Millie and Ginny certainly were living their best doodle lives with lots of the love and attention:
It was a wonderful finale to our Christmas season and we are thankful for these memories with family!
