Do you hear that? “..I hear those sleigh bells ringling jing jing jingling too! Come on it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!!” I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! I could hardly wait for Van to experience his first Christmas and I was thrilled when it turned out to be a white Christmas!!
Christmas is full of traditions and they start the day after Thanksgiving. I begin by transforming the house into an elf’s paradise! We have at least one Christmas tree in each room (but some rooms have more!!) While I transform the inside of the house Dustin illuminates the outside! He puts up lights and decorations until it looks like a glowing candy house! I put up all of the decorations inside except for the big tree in the living room.
One tradition that Dustin brought from his family was getting a real Christmas tree. We have a special night just for selecting and decorating the big tree! This year Liz went with us to go find the perfect one! It didn’t take long to find it! Van wasn’t able to help decorate much this year but his time will come!
On 12-22-09 we did one of my favorite traditions. Dustin read the story of Jesus’ birth from the Bible then we put the star on the tree! I enjoy the decorations and cheer that Christmas brings but nothing is more important than the true reason we celebrate Christmas, Jesus’ birth!
On Christmas Eve we go celebrate with Dustin’s Mom’s side of the family. We bundled up in the truck and started our journey but only slid a few miles before we had to head back home. Unfortunately 2009 was Dustin’s first time to not be with his parents on Christmas Eve. He was very sad but I think he was grateful to at least be with me and Van. We made the most of being snowed in together, which of course included eating snow ice cream!
We woke up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had eaten the cookies and drank the koolaide Van left for him! Of course Van had as much fun with the paper and boxes as he did the gifts! We got Van a plush alien from Toy Story and his very own remote control! He LOVED his remote!
Nee Nee and PaPaw tried to come see us but they had a tough time on the ice covered roads! At 1:00 we went to the Matherly’s for Christmas lunch. We enjoyed yummy food like turkey, mashed potatoes and tabooli. When I wasn’t looking Ug gave Van some coconut pie! Nee Nee and PaPaw finally made it too! The Matherly’s got Van Chuck the Truck! He absolutely loves him! He moves on his own and talks! I think Chuck was his favorite present this Christmas!
Around 6 we headed back home so we could enjoy more time with Nee Nee and PaPaw at our home. Nee Nee brought a bag of presents that Santa had left at her house for Van!! He got a laptop from Granny, a book from Teresa, hat and gloves from Barry and books, clothes and toys from Nee Nee and PaPaw.
The Sunday after Christmas we headed to Chandler to celebrate with my side of the family. It was entertaining chaos having everyone home! Van and Amelia crawled after Alex and Thomas as they ran around the house chasing Thomas’ new puppy Bowzer! Grandy and Poppie are thrilled to have 4 grandkids now. My favorite memory was watching Poppie try and read the Christmas story while he and Grandy held all the kids on their laps! I can hardly wait to see how they juggle another grandbaby next year!
