Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was preceeded with the annual Christensen Christmas party on Christmas Eve. Kelly has 6 siblings, who are all married with children, most of which have children of their own. It was fun to see the chaos of everyone running around, visiting and getting reacquainted. As I sat there and watched everyone, I was profoundly grateful for Kelly's parents. Kelly's mom passed away several years ago, but as you sit and look at their heritage, the examples they set and the impact it has had on all these people that were present in one room, it was pretty inspiring. I bet they never thought all those decades ago, when they got married that one day, homes would be full of their children, grandchildren and great grand children, yet there we were Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, brought the normal excitement that comes when gifts are involved. I enjoy buying gifts because I love that look one someone's face when they open it. We had a wonderful morning, filled with opening boxes, trying to conquer those tough plastic containers that allow you to see the gift, just not get the gift! It was great watching Cassie sing Karoke to High School Musical, (although Ry and Josh weren't quite sure what Santa was thinking about with that gift!) We had our traditional big brunch, that was fun to eat on the nice dinnerware all at the kitchen table. Mark asked me, "why are you getting out the cups that break, are the other ones dirty? I thought these just stayed in the cupboard to look at!" I think we need to have more slightly formal meals at our house. :)

Christmas Day evening, we went to my parents home for dinner. My dad had knee replacement surgery a couple weeks ago, and it was nice to see him up and around a bit. We had a great time visiting with my siblings and their families. There is something special about family at Christmas, don't you think? I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!