Christmas Wrap-Up

Let's start at the beginning shall we, Christmas Eve began with a stunning Candlelight Service which filled our great church to capacity. No really, standing room only on the third balcony where Nemi and I took in the breathtaking views of near 6000 glowing candles in remembrance of Christ's birth! Once home and snuggled warm in our Christmas jammies, Daddy read the little ones "Twas The Night Before Christmas". Finally Christmas morning came and everyone was excited, even Mommy and Daddy, for Santa had brought us a Wii! Let it be known that this was the best gift for this particular week, see paragraph three.

Daddy reading "Twas The Night Before Christmas"

Cookies for Santa Late night snack...cookies and milk Once all the presents were unwrapped and we had played our share of games for the morning, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner. Joining us were Uncle Bruce and Aunt Linda and Wendy and Jason. We enjoyed another round of gift giving and a fantastic dinner followed by a delicious dessert selection. Finally our exhausted family returned home. Now the real fun begins, Bella woke up December 26th very sick with the stomach flu, followed by Noah, Micah, Jeff and Stephanie on New Year's Eve. So much for a fun-filled week off! We spent our Christmas vacation either sick or asleep or sometimes both. Insert, Santa brought us the Wii. Thank goodness for that, the kids were so mesmerized that they played while Jeff and I recuperated. But a lot of thanks is owed to my Mom who came on Monday when Jeff was very sick, to help me out and again on Wednesday when I was very sick to help Jeff out. What would we do without Mom. So here I sit, just hours before midnight, ringing in the New Year with baby Nehemiah at my side and an otherwise silent household. Yet, I would not trade this week for anything. We may not have gone to the beach, or thrown a New Year's bash, or drove to the mountains to sled (all things discussed earlier this month), but we did spend a week with each other, caring for and taking time with the ones we loved. And really that is the best Christmas gift and New Year's wish of all.