Christmas Eve: Lora hosted a cozy soup and delectibles night (never mind being 29 weeks pregnant). Jon, Mira, and Chris all got in just that day after a red-eye flight and gamely joined the festivities. It was a lovely, relaxed evening - good dinner, good company, oh, and we watched Maleficent, which I surprised myself by really enjoying.
Christmas Eve hilarity: chasing around Joe in his underpants.
Christmas morning. Hark the herald angles sing! What a happy time this was. Riley and Joe are blessedly too young to wake up at 4 for present opening. We woke up at the usual 7 and led them to their stockings downstairs.
Breakfast, my favorite! Angie made us brazilian, I think it was, toast with strawberry compote and whipped cream. Mmmm....I could eat it all day.
After breakfast you visit and shower (though not simultaneously) and then we gathered for family pictures. Robert and his fiance were in from China too, so we got the rare "whole group" shot. I'll post those at a later date, as they were taken on Darren's camera. After pictures, before dinner: presents! Oh the squeals!
Kids table!
Charming, as always.
Dinner outdid itself (Ang and Mom mostly, performing culinary miracles.) And then the following calorie coma and pleasant after-dinner conversation, phone calls and playing with new toys. Isn't Christmas grand?
Evelyn hopes for a kick:
One of life's sweetest moments.
Getting real.
And of course, a Christmas walk.
Warm memories there! I thank God for days like that day. Here is what I wrote that evening after the festivities were over:
"We celebrate this miraculous gift God gave the world on Christmas day. I
wonder how God felt on this day. Was he happy to see the plan moving
forward. Was He sad for His Son to be leaving His presence? Embarking on
the hardest journey anyone could be asked to travel? Was he happy
because he loves each one of us so incredibly and proud that his eldest
was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for us? ... I am truly grateful for the gift I was given. Thank you, God for
the gift of thy Son, and thank you, Mary for the same. For being
incredibly mature and self-sacrificing for your age. Did you ever tell
Joseph when he came in after carpentering all day, "You will never
believe what Jesus said today?" What must it have been like to have the privilege and weighty responsibility of raising God's
son..."
My journal entries often turn into kind of prayers. I should journal more often.
Now it's New Years and our thoughts have turned to other things. Resolutions, gearing up for a new school year, work year, what have you. I think I want to emulate Ebenezer Scrooge in his goal:
"I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year."
God bless!
In summation, and for those looking to kill three minutes, I give you: a holiday compilation of phone videos:
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