Christmas Day

Christmas Day is always wonderful. We were awakened early in the morning by 10 anxious children who wanted to see what Santa Claus had brought. It took a little while for those ten children to use the bathroom, get Grandpa and Grandma out of bed then convince them not to run over each other as they came up the stairs. (we had them all sleep in the basement and Rick slept at the bottom of the stairs to guard them from sneaking up to see Santa's elves). It was wonderful to hear the squeals and excitement of all the kids. There were art easels, bikes, golf clubs, nerf guns, clothes, laptops, luggage, musical toys and so much more. It seemed to take us forever to unwrap all the gifts but it was so much fun. McKay I think was the most excited over each toy - at least he waved his hands the most. Every musical toy was a new adventure for him and he was not very patient as they were being taken out of the boxes. In fact, he spent the entire day playing with his toys - not even coming to eat or get dressed- and played until 11:00 that night. My children faired very well considering Disneyworld was part of their trip. It was fun trying to stuff it all in the van to get home.

That afternoon, we were joined by Coby and Shawn's families for a large Christmas dinner. It is so fun to get together with everyone. We have not been "home" for Christmas for almost 16 years. I still enjoy just Christmas with my husband and children, but my heart yearns every year to be with my extended family. This year we had that opportunity and I will be forever grateful to Rob for allowing that to happen. He is always a trooper and goes along with my ideas. Thank you dear for giving me yet another Christmas gift...the gift of family.