Merry Christmas from Our Home to Yours!

This year, Christmas was bittersweet.  My husband had to spend his first holiday season without his father, our beloved Papa.  It was also our second Christmas without our beloved Uncle Terry.

Although our family has gotten smaller, I must say that the joy Little Lewie and his cousins share for the holiday has only gotten bigger and bigger.  Lewie's belief in magic was first fueled by the appearance of Tootie, our elf.  The anticipation of Santa coming then grew more and more as we counted the days down with his advent calendar and sent a letter to the North Pole.  I was so proud of Lewie as he only wrote three items on his list.  "This is all I'm going to ask for," he told me.  "Getting these three things will make me very happy."

Santa, of course, brought a few more presents that were unexpected.  He brought a water slide for the family to enjoy during the summer and the biggest gift of all, an Xbox One.  Lewie was so surprised by his gift (especially since he didn't ask for it) that he wondered if it was delivered to the wrong house.  "Mommy, I think this might be Justin's present," he announced.  "Justin told me he wanted an Xbox One for Christmas."  I was both charmed by his comment and a little worried that Santa may have gone too far. Santa knew how much this little boy loves Minecraft, so he bought the Xbox for this very reason.  Still, the gift may have commercialized the holiday a little too much--making Lewie feel as if Santa should be expected to bring these types of presents every Christmas. 

Grammy (my mom) and her two sisters, Aunty Irene and Aunty Kiki

Lewie and Grammy

Lewie's little cousin Crystal

Whether we went overboard or not, Lewie was shocked by his gifts and told me that "he must have been a very good boy."  We chuckled at his excitement and spent the rest of the day being incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to spend Christmas with our families.  We may have missed getting hugs from two extra special people this year, but their memories stayed with us.  My husband reminisced:  "My father was so excited to see us open our Christmas gifts every year that sometimes he would be the first one awake in the house."  We laughed at the idea, but then my husband ended up carrying on the tradition.  He woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep!

Merry, merry Christmas to all of my friends, blog friends, and family members.  May your hearts be joyful and glad!

XOXO