Christmas

I had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was SO fun being able to spend the holiday with extended family after so many years. That's one of the things I love about Thanksgiving and Christmas: family getting together, catching up. It's wonderful to see everyone growing up.

I feel so spoiled this year. Some of the things I've wanted for a long time, I was given, and one thing I didn't even know I wanted I got! The boys gave me this little tea for two set that is adorable. Em gave me a documentary I've been wanting, Ken Burn's Civil War. I've seen it before, and I have been wanting to watch it again. Now I can watch it whenever I want! Of course my inlaws know my heart and gave me a Starbuck's card, and my aunt Teri gave me a give card to La Madeleine's so I can have some of their Tomato Basil soup. But the big surprise was something T and the boys have been planning for awhile. I can't believe they kept a secret this long! They gave me tickets to see Brian Regan. Actually, it was part of Em's gift, too. We get to go together, spend the night in a hotel...we're really looking forward to it.

I love being here and being able to have more options of things to get for our loved ones. We enjoy the secrecy of it all, hiding gifts, re-hiding them, wrapping them, and then seeing their faces when they get them. I noticed this year more than before, though, that the kids eyes were on others faces as they watched their gifts being opened. You knew that a lot of thought went into that gift, and I think that meant more than the gift itself.

It's wonderful watching our kids grow up thinking about others. We wish we could have been there to see the faces of family open their presents in Florida, because we know the thought that the kids put into their gifts.

Gift giving. It's the ultimate gift of Christ's son, played out on a personal and practical level to family and friends. It's something we have thoroughly enjoyed this year.