Merry Christmas

It's the end of a really lovely Christmas weekend. A few of the new movies have been watched, the kitchen is nearly reclaimed from the firestorm of cooking and today has been a nice, quiet day of recovery and enjoying.  My sister and her family are here, so we have all the activity and fun of three small boys in the house. Sam and Johnathan are home and the house is full to bursting (in a good way of course) of suitcases, air mattresses, gifts, food, kids and lots of other stuff, but it's evidence of togetherness, so it's all part of this year's story.

We were able to preserve pretty much all of the important traditions, including the nativity play (oh the silliness), the before-the-gift-opening portrait on the stairs, the ebelskiver breakfast, etc. It's been fun over the years to add new traditions, a favorite of which is lighting the "fireplace" (an awesome dvd of a fireplace that my pal Holly gave us a couple of years ago).  Now it wouldn't be a proper Christmas morning without our "fire" crackling away merrily in the background. Ha ha.

I got lovely gifts from pals, fun and thoughtful gifts from my family, and was totally surprised by Eric's gift of a new laptop.  He laundered the purchase through one of my son's checking accounts and I was totally clueless. It was completely unanticipated and much appreciated.

Most of all, I'm glad to be able to celebrate in such a grand and glorious way. I find myself grateful for all the parts of my life and especially grateful that I have so many wonderful people with whom I can share everything that happens.

Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you.