Christmas 2010

Christmas morning was pretty fun. Unlike last year, Dylan did actually fall asleep and slept until a normal hour - somewhere between 6 and 7. We had planned on having a very little Christmas this year. We knew we had to do something for the kids, but it has been a really rough year financially. Not only do we live on a very tight budget, but we have had a string of bad luck that just won't end. Pretty much everything we own has broken and needed to be replaced, not to mention the fact that the medical bills for Marissa were much larger than we had anticipated. Anyway, the hard part is that Dylan is old enough to know what he wants. The kid asked for a violin. That's it. And he told Santa he wanted a Playmobil zoo set. Preston and Marissa didn't care really, but Preston is IN LOVE with Toy Story 3. Anyway, without going into details, I will just say that we were very blessed this year. When I thought I could bare no more, we had angels literally knocking on our door. It was a year that brought me to my knees time and again...both pleading with the Lord and thanking Him. I have never had such a trying yet such a spiritual Christmas. It was very humbling...a year of many Christmas miracles. With that said, we had a very lovely Christmas.

Dylan got his Playmobil zoo set and Preston got a farm from Santa...plus there was a sled from Santa for the family to share. We were going to do one gift each this year, but ended up continuing our tradition of three gifts (symbolic of the three gifts the wise men brought for Jesus). I actually read a book this year that talks about bringing more meaning into Christmas and they did this as well. We used to say "a need, a want and a spiritual gift" but the way it is described in the book talks about what gold, frankincense and myrrh were used for. The book refers to them as "a joyful, a needful and a meaningful gift" so we're going to start referring to our gifts that way. Preston's joyful gift was Buzz, Dylan's was a 1/2 size violin (I'm going to start giving him lessons, but it was totally his idea...he begged and begged us to get him one), they each got a book for their needful gift (not exactly needful, but kind of) and they got a picture of Jesus to go in their bedroom for their meaningful gift. It was a gift they got together since they share a room. Marcos got a new tennis racket (Why he wanted a new racket when he has a really nice one already, I will never understand, but whatever. Men are weird.) And I got... Wait for it. Wait for it. A wheat grinder. After Marcos had bought it, we found out how much the car was going to cost and I about lost it. I told him to take my gift back to help pay for the car. But...he didn't and I have to say I'm glad. I make homemade bread all the time and I always have to have someone else grind the wheat for me. It will be so nice to be able to do it all myself at home. And, not that I'm complaining, but we mothers often become martyrs out of necessity. I haven't had a really nice gift in a LONG time. But I still feel guilty about receiving such a big gift this year.

My mom spoiled everyone again this year. She had four fun matching gifts for all the grandkids to open (not the babies, but the bigger kids). They all got Zhu Zhu pets, these cool hexobugs, monster trucks that jump over things and snow tubes. The men played a game with their presents and ended up with all sorts of different presents. We got walkie talkies - the nice kind. SCORE! I got a mini-umbrella, a cute bracelet, a scarf and some awesome kitchen towels - the flour sacks from way back when. I've been wanting some of those forever! It was a really nice Christmas afternoon and evening, although by the end my body was ready to shut down. I thought I was over my illness, but apparently was still pretty sick. I made mom and Barney a movie of 2010. Probably one of the best ones I've made. We all attempted to watch it, but it was slightly chaotic with all my mom's kids, two of Barney's kids, the in-laws and all the grandkids running everywhere. It was a lovely Christmas though. Now that I'm a mom, I can better appreciate all the thought and hard work that goes into making the holidays so memorable for everyone. Thanks, Mom! I love you!