Christmas Eve in New York

Sometimes I have deep thoughts that need a lot of words to process. Sometimes I have a light heart that craves a ton of pictures to capture the happy memories.

It's Christmas 2025!  Expect a lot of photos.

For the past year, Annika has been limited to a four-hour driving radius of Salt Lake City. When her December cath came back rejection-free, she was cleared to travel father. Yay! Our whole family took off for New York to be with extended family.  And yes, I mean our whole Utah family--6 Wheelers, 4 Wilhoits, 2 Andruses, 1 pug, plus a partridge in a pear tree.

Okay,maybe no partridge, but we did have adorable reindeer gift bags to gift to the flight attendants and pilots, courtesy of NomiAnn.

Our flight left at 6am, meaning that we had to get up crazy early to be at the airport shuttle by four. Talia looks shocked by the idea.

As for NomiAnn, she was just delighted to be back with her Brooklyn. As are we all!

Remember those gift bags for the flight crew? Well, the pilot was SO delighted that he invited Anders and Eila back into the cockpit to take a photo. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime experience. What a lovely Christmas surprise!

Transferring in O'Hare. Feels like Home Alone!

We had a bit of time before catching our next flight so the kids entertained themselves by stealing Papa Kay's hat and decorating his hair.

Leaving Chicago. While now named the Willis Tower, the Sears Tower will always be iconic in my mind. I have fun memories of traveling to the observation deck when company came to visit.

Equally stunning views landing in New York as we flew into LaGuardia.

The Big Apple never looked more beautiful.

We took our time to enjoy the newly remodeled airport on our way out.

The water show is particularly mesmerizing.

All in all, our flights were amazingly uneventful. 12 people flying into New York through Chicago on Christmas Eve without a single flight delay or lost item of luggage. In fact, they even recovered Annika's wolf sweater after it got left on board. Yes, we love New York!

To get our giant group of 12 back to Long Island, Alesia came in her Prius, Janet drove her mini-van, plus my folks rented a car. The mini-van's transmission threatened to give out, but fortunately the traffic on the Long Island Expressway was so slow that Janet made the entire drive in a low gear without issue. Plus, Eli figured out a way to manually gear the van up and down when needed. Hooray for engineers!

Pulling up to Woodbine Avenue was magical. Santa's sleigh and a couple of reindeer were even waiting on the roof.

Once inside, there were treasures waiting around every corner.

Check out Dobby in the doll house. I'm hoping there are some socks in that package.

To quote Brooklyn, this bear is a legend.

Of course, the snowman family that my Mom sewed years ago might be even more beloved.

Having set up his own elaborate Christmas village, Papa Kay appreciated the craftsmanship that went into the villages here.

Here's Alesia explaining the concept of a wood-burning stove to Anders.

She also made gingerbread cookies for everyone to decorate.

Meanwhile, Annika left personalized treats for all of Santa's reindeer.

The very best surprises were the beautiful hand-crafted shirts that Alesia designed for every family member. It even includes the plastic snowman that Jay dumpster-picked to annoy my father! Uniquely marvelous.

I've always wanted matching Christmas jammies! I never thought they'd be this amazing.

 

Alesia even made a matching bowtie for Zion. Thank you, Alesia!

But wait! Can't forget that December 24th is also Adam's birthday. When you think about it, Christmas Eve really is a giant birthday party. Thanks for making it even more fun, Adam!

And thanks to the Wells family for the delicious ice cream cake!

The telling of the Nativity story, a few carols around the piano, and we were all tuckered out. Dream sweetly of sugar plums, Brooklyn! Gents, best put those phones away and hop in bed or Santa might put you on the naughty list. Papa Kay particularly needed the rest after his challenging sleep study and nights without a C-pap. Good news is he's slept much better here on Long Island.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!