Since we travel on Christmas Day, we asked Santa to come early to our house. Their little faces were so sweet and excited to open their presents. Nolan got the DLC upgrades he wanted for his video games, Olivia got her walking, barking puppy, and Simon got a big garbage truck. Of course new love books were unwrapped and they were excited to look at some of their favorite memories from the past year. But my absolute favorite part of the morning was that Nolan and Livi surprised us with homemade gifts that they made for us and each other with scraps from around the house...A cardboard boat made with straws and paper, drawings on cardboard to hang on the walls, and a beautiful letter about what Christmas looks like. They were so excited to give the presents they made and their love radiated from them. It reminded me about how a simple gift given with love can be the most meaningful. I am so proud of them.
That evening, I played for the earliest church service. Since our kids are not vaccinated yet and we were worried about crowds, we opted not to bring our whole family. Surprisingly, there were very few people in attendance and I was a little bummed out to find that the group assembled were not terribly energetic participants. Regardless, the candlelit Silent Night is always a highlight and it was nice to get back to playing this year, after missing it entirely last year.
After church, I joined the rest of the family back at Steve and Patti's. We opted to not gather with the extended family this year, as an additional safety measure from covid, and with Tom still being sick, it ended up just being the seven of us. However, it was one of the most relaxing, wonderful Christmas Eves I can remember. It was so nice have a slower paced evening, with good food, plenty to drink, and time to watch the kids play and enjoy each other. The kids had one remaining present to open from Grandma and Grandpa - new, upgraded tablets - which they really needed as their previous ones were really limping along. We opened stockings together and had a yummy dinner of ham, cheesy hashbrowns, and green been casserole. Merry Christmas!
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