Making up for a few crazy days!

Wooo its been a ride these few days! Haven't had time to sign online at all since Christmas Eve. Still need to check my email...that will be a treat.

I'll do my best to make up for lost time here.

Wednesday night:
We finished cooking food and had an elaborate dinner of chicken wings, stuffed bread, sandwiches and so much else. We opened our Christmas Eve gifts from Nicole, her family tradition of "Christmas Jammies." I must say that it's a cute idea and wish we had done it when I was a kid. My jammies had snowmen on a red and white background, with soft red slippers.Everyone wore their jammies to bed.

I heard a lovely story on TV about a "praying Santa" in either North or South Carolina. This man started playing Santa shortly after his father died. The father was big into christmas and always played santa and taught his family the real meaning of Christmas. Once the son began following his father's tradition, he felt the Lord calling him to this Santa ministry. He now sees children every year, and in addition to talking with the childrean about their wishes, he prays with them. He gets a very positive reaction from the children and their parents. I think this story is just wonderful. It really brings Christmas full circle, and connects the Santa tradition to the love and joy Jesus brings.

Thursday - Christmas Day
Today was certainly an interesting Christmas. Woke up to the phone ringing; it was Morgan thanking Mike and I for the gifts we sent. I would have gone back to bed, but a few people were already up and moving. Laura was up, which pretty much meant the day was started. The living room had been "Christmas-ified". Laura was all excited and intrigued. I must admit, it was neat waking up Christmas day with a kid in the house. She is 11 though and while she insisted on leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, was skeptical and asking questions. Dad responded to this beautifully and went on his laptop to pull up that "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause" article. Dad tried to show Laura that the Christmas spirit is a mindset, an expression of love and peace. It was beautiful.

This beauty did not last long however. Nicole meanered out into the kitchen as mom was cooking. She was the last person out of bed, andtends to get a little cranky in the morning. She patted herself on the back as she handed Laura a gift bag with a black scarf she stayed up all night making for her. With Nicole, everything is a competition, and she had to make sure that Laura knew that she was the best gift giver. While Nicole was getting her coffee together, dad suggested that Laura could open her stocking while we were all waking up and making waffles (this in a tradition in our household). Nicole had a fit about this; she wanted to record EVERYTHING, and made her put the stocking away. This did not sit right with dad, and he called her on it...and things escalated, quickly. In seconds, they were both screaming their heads off, Nicole was crying, quite a mess. On Christmas, of all days. I had to retreat to my room to pull myself together to keep from saying anything. It almost ruined Christmas for everyone. Nicole was quite dramatic (she thrives on this kind of attention it seems). After awhile, we managed to get everyone to calm down and get back to normal.

We then gathered into the livingroom, and did gifts. My parents did great with Laura's gift, and everyone seemed happy. The gifts I made went over well; mom loved the cranberry dish, and dad was touched by the electric blanket. During breakfast, Dad read the Christmas story from the bible.

My parents are just wonderful! They gave me some lovely gifts, including the PERFECT gloves for working with a dog harness, some thermals for training in NY, sweaters, and a few DVDs. I really was touched by their thoughfulness.

Laura enjoyed herself. She made out like a bandit and retreated after our pancake breakfast (they were easier than waffles) to the livingroom to play with her goodies. By nightfall, she was bored again, and became quite smug. She and Nicole were pulling a bit of an attitude after I called Laura out on making a rude comment. So things were good for the most part, but I think when it comes down to it, we're trying too hard to make a family out of a group of strangers. Nobody can undo the years of missed opportunities. And people take their holiday traditions very personally; to have a Christmas together, we would have to compromise a bit.

All in all, I enjoyed Christmas with my family. My parents always make things nice and happy around the house, and I love being around mom especially. A few things were less than perfect, but its in the past. This was an important Christmas for me, as I get older Christmas is changing. I am becomeing more and more greatful of the love and joy I share with my family. None of us are perfect, but we share the joy of the season together. We know the true reason for the season, and it keeps our hearts full this time of year.