Ree Drummond Set Her Christmas Table 6 Weeks Early in Anticipation of Having All Her Kids Home for the Holidays

The 'Pioneer Woman' star has "already planned the menus and made the grocery list" for her Christmas dinner

Ree Drummond's countdown to Christmas started a bit earlier than most.

The Pioneer Woman star admitted in a blog post that she is so excited to host Christmas that she started setting her holiday table six weeks early.

“I would like to declare that I am more excited than is normal to finally host both our Thanksgiving and Christmas meals this year, after a few years of hopping from place to place,” the celebrity chef wrote, referencing the Drummond’s move from the house Ree and husband Ladd raised their kids in to a new house they built on the same property.

Now that the couple's new home on the same ranch is completed, Ree is eager to have family and friends come. “When I say I started laying out my plates and napkins a little early (is six weeks too early?), I am not exaggerating,” she said in the post, adding that she has “already planned the menus and made the grocery list.”

She is setting spots for all of her children as she is “looking forward to all the kids coming home for the holidays.” Daughters Alex, 26, and Paige, 23, will be on the Pawhuska, Okla., ranch. Plus sons Bryce, 21, and Todd, 19, and foster son Jamar Goff, 21, are all coming home from college for the holiday.

Related: See Ree Drummond's Sweetest Family Photos From Over the Years

This Christmas is also Ree and Ladd's first since becoming empty nesters, and the Food Network star is proud of how she handled the year without any children living at home.

As Todd got ready to leave for school, Ree recalled that her “trepidation was extreme.” She continued, “Yet here Ladd and I are, with almost a year of empty-nesting under our belts, and we are still living and breathing (and eating!)”

The new house was under construction last Christmas, so the Drummond crew went on a family vacation in Vail, Colorado. While there, they were decked out in matching green-and-yellow elf pajamas, complete with coordinating green hats.

The decision to travel for the holidays last year was inspired by the loss of her father-in-law, Chuck, who died "peacefully in his sleep" on Nov. 4, 2022 at 79 years old.

"This is the first Christmas we will be without Chuck, and since he has always been such a big part of our holidays, it feels like a good time to change things up and change the scenery a little bit," Ree revealed at the time.

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