Here at the Henriques household we value family wholeheartedly and this year was something special for sure. Our little man Wyatt is just a few months shy of being 2 years old, so now he is starting to get the concept of Christmas. I loved Christmas as a kid, I remember waking up super early to see if Santa came. Standing in front of the tree in awww looking at the mountains of presents and shaking each box to figure out what was inside. I may or may not have peeled the corner of the paper to see if I was right too. Still today I am a master at guessing my gifts without peeking 😉

Christmas day was huge growing up, well any holiday was, we are Portuguese 🙂 The family would all gather at my grandparents house. The aroma of my grandma’s Polvo Guisado cooking on the stove, the sound of holiday music, and of course The March of the Wooden Solider playing on T.V. The silver (yes silver) vintage Christmas tree stood in the corner of living room between the plastic wrapped couches  and the T.V. Underneath that tree is where the presents from the family would wait patiently for us to rip them apart after dinner. Our bellies were stuffed and hardly containing the excitement to see what kind of stuff we got, so we ran to the tree and in a tornado of wrapping paper and bows the kids and adults alike checked out their gifts. Laughter filled the room with football playing in the background while some of us munched on fresh giant chocolate chip cookies from the bakery. This is why I loved Christmas.

As the years went by and we started to grow up. My beloved grandparents which were the glue of holding the family together passed away and the family started to get together less and less. I secretly started to despise the holidays, we as a family were becoming disconnected. The Christmas spirit was lost, like I needed a visit from the Polar express lost. I have to admit I have even muttered the words “I hate Christmas” in true scrooge style.

Don’t worry, that all changed!!! Since I met Maggie the holidays started to suck less. We started having more family get togethers. Then we had Wyatt. Last Christmas was cool, but he didn’t get it yet. This year Wyatt was my Polar Express. Seeing the joy and excitement when he saw his gifts and the priceless time we spent together completely restored my Christmas Spirit. We had a huge feast with most of our family around. There were piles of magical gifts under the tree, loads of laughter, full bellies, and even giant chocolate chip cookies fresh from the Bakery. No I didn’t make Polvo Guisado (are you still wondering what that is? Its octopus stew 🙂 but will be practicing this year to perfect it for next Christmas.

With all that being said we would love to share our unforgettable Christmas morning adventure with you.