Christmas

We had an absolutely WONDERFUL Christmas. Evan and I stayed up until about 1:30am doing, ya know . . . Christmas stuff. Around 5am Taneal and Camie woke up ready to go downstairs and see if Santa had come. I wanted a happy Christmas morning, so I was afraid to wake Spencer up. He didn't quite "get" the Christmas thing yet. Would he be his normal extremely-grouchy-self-when-woke- up-too-early? or would he see the magic of Christmas morning and be able to be happy? I was too afraid to find out, so I told Taneal and Camie it was too early and sent them back to bed. That was not fair. But, not ten minutes later they were back in my room. I couldn't resist, so I had them go carefully wake Spencer and Danielle up while I got out the cameras. And, Spencer tried to be grouchy but couldn't resist the excitement he saw in his sisters. They headed downstairs and were so excited!

Having Children takes Christmas to a whole new level. If I could , I would have twenty more children just to keep the excitement of Christmas going. Of course that isn't going to happen. But I can capture the excitement as best as possible on video and try to remember their excitement and the magic that takes place.

Taneal is the best at showing her excitement. Santa brought us a Wii. I told her there was no way Santa would EVER be able to bring us a Wii. If he did bring us a Wii, there definitely wouldn't be any other presents, so don't even ask. Of course she did not ask, and after she had opened her other gifts, she found a gift under the tree with all the kiddos name on it. They all gathered together and she just couldn't hold her excitement in after the first of the wrapping paper was torn off. She was jumping up and down and screaming! She was so much fun to watch!

Camie was happy about getting what she calls an American Girl Doll. I'm not sure that it is that name brand, but she loves it and that is wonderful. After she opened the present with the doll in it, she kept asking to call her cousin, Audrey, to tell her the news because Audrey had an American Girl Doll also. I was hoping Santa would bring Camie one because I made her some clothes to go with it. And she loved those. Camie really appreciates gifts with thought into them, things made specifically for her, and she loved the clothes and the time I spent just on her. She was a happy girl.

Danielle was happy to be opening presents. She really didn't care what was inside. She is 4 so she understands Christmas morning very well, but she doesn't really care about the gifts other then she has some to open. She got things that she REALLY wanted and once she opened them she set them aside. She got Bella Dancerella which she plays with all the time at her friend's house and she hasn't even played with hers once. She got a kid-tough camera and took some pictures later that day and then hasn't used it much since. She's kind of funny that way. Gifts don't really mean anything to her. She did this with her birthday and last Christmas. I figured last Christmas it was because she was only three. Well, she did it again. I guess it is just Danielle. She was happy and excited, just didn't really care about the gifts. I think she could have got some lipstick and cheap make-up and a new outfit (she did get a sparkly outfit and wore it for three days straight afterwards) and nothing else and she would have been delighted.

Spencer, loved the gun he got at the Chinese Exchange the night before. He opened his gifts but kept going back to the gun. What is it with boys?

Nathan slept in until his normal 7am. After a while Camie helped him open his present. He just smiled, burped, and cooed. Cute little baby.

Taneal told me, more insisted, that I was to ask Santa for a present. I hesitated, knowing of course I was too old for presents from Santa. Taneal was persistent, told me how her teacher asked for things from Santa and got them. I decided I would try. What I really wanted was a new printer that could scan, make copies, and print in color. With Taneal being so insistent, I decided to try. And, guess what! It worked.

Evan, he was here. Back in November, Thanksgiving weekend, I remember him calling me and telling me he absolutely would not be home for Christmas. I was driving to Fossil Rim (the park with the giraffes and zebras) when he broke the news to me. After I hung up I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I was getting mad at myself for breaking down with all my children in the car watching me. I needed to be strong, but just couldn't do it. I missed him so much and then to find out he wouldn't be home for Christmas was too much. After a few moments I gained composure again. We had a great time in the park. And then on the way home, Evan called me again and told me the news had changed, he was being layed off. At first I didn't believe him. No way! Then, I got back to my parent's house and Evan confirmed again that he really had been layed-off. And the next day he was home, home to stay. I missed him so much during those four months away. I had such mixed emotions. I was dreading going through unemployment again, but I was so glad he was home. And, Christmas morning as I looked around at the happiness, I knew why. Evan was home. He was sharing this moment with me. Taneal even mentioned how blessed we felt that day. I pointed out to her that the only reason dad was home was because he lost his job. She got a mischievous grin on her face and said, "I'm glad he lost his job." Happiness is being together. Evan started working two weeks after he was layed-off, he found a job quickly this time. We really have been blessed. Our family is together again and we are happy.