We had the blessing of sharing some time with Oliver's family. On Christmas Eve, we had a party of favorite snacks followed up by a birthday cake & song for Jesus. As we were driving home, I told Oliver that I really wanted to have the tree up this year. So after the boys were put to bed, I went downstairs, got the tree, put it up and strung it with lights. We had a few presents to wrap and while I didn't get a photo of it, I felt very content and happy to sit there for a minute with the lit tree and the humble gathering of gifts beneath it. There is definitely something positive to be said about the excitment of being able to give your children an exciting morning.
Christmas morning was later than many, I'm sure, we got up around 9am. Ryan(spurred on by Oliver) was "wow"ed by the tree which actually made me happy to hear. It was fun to see Ryan figure out opening presents and to see Evan enjoy the paper and such. I was thrilled by their enjoyment of the gifts bought from the dollar store and was again grateful for the generosity of strangers when Ryan and Evan were really excited about their toy trucks. The tree was great. Ryan was fascinated by the lights and Evan was a little too fascinated-evidenced when I heard a crack and see little red pieces inside his mouth. So the lights got turned off and the tree came down a few days later.
We then made orange rolls for breakfast and decided to head over to visit the family again for the rest of Christmas day. The rest of the day was full of gift opening and puzzle fitting and children chasing and nap taking and (for me-song singing & being surprised by a beautiful coat from Ollie) and a delicious meal presented by Oliver's mom. I believe Oliver said, "this is my favorite meal ever."
And so I came to the determination that Christmas needs to be a perfect melding of tradition and spiritual connection for you to, at the end of the day, feel like it has been a beautiful blessed day and even more connected to the Lord. 
This was one of our treasures from the day, a beautiful hand painted egg purchased in Kiev from Oliver's dad.
How do I feel? Like it was a beautiful blessed day and when I put my babies to bed that night and held my husband close, that I was forever grateful for the birth of the Savior who has given me purpose in this life, who has allowed it to be possible for me to have an eternal goal to return home to heaven and our Heavenly Father.
The massive amounts of chocolate that we ended up coming home with, will also be sitting with me for months. I hope your Christmas was as merry.
No comments:
Post a Comment