Christmas

 

Christmas came lightening quick. Christmas Eve just did not feel like Christmas Eve. We had such a nice December, with no snow. It was like the best Christmas present ever. I even mentioned to Mark how grateful I was and how the heavens were gifting me. I spoke too soon. That night it snowed like 8 inches and blew all over place. I should know better. I am starting to feel like the heavens maybe cursing me...

 

We were all still feeling pretty junky and full of snot, but Patti's 12 days of Christmas were still going strong. The Monday before Christmas we went caroling, something I had never done before. I didn't feel great, Mark hates singing, and it was cold so we were kind of dreading it. But we had such a great time. Paige loved it and said multiple times how fun it was. She has a serious obsession with Jingle Bells and since it was one of the few songs we all knew the words to, it got sang quite a bit. Christmas Eve we crashed another Crapo party and felt grateful to be included.

 

Paige and Bowen holding down the kids table. Bowen is eating real food, Paige is eating a bowl full of shredded cheese.

 



 

Patti even included Paige in the cousin Christmas jammies. Seriously, Paige was on cloud 9. I felt so grateful to them for letting us crash all their family events. They are a wonderful, close knit family, and we felt blessed to be a part!

 

Paige and all her friends

 

Christmas morning at our house. All the parties were catching up with Paige. She didn't wake up until about 9:30. If only I had known she planned on sleeping in, it would have been the best Christmas present ever to sleep until 9:30! Paige's big bean bag chair couldn't fit in Santa's sleigh, so hopefully we see that through the mail here in a week or so. Santa's elf had some ordering problems that didn't manifest themselves until the last minute. Guaranteed by Christmas does not in fact mean that. I have SO much to be grateful for, and having Paige in our lives is just the best, but man, Christmas morning sometimes just feels awfully quiet and incomplete. It is a strange feeling. I remember last Christmas thinking how different this one would be, and here we were, in exactly the same place. Except with our hearts more guarded and a bit scarred. There are days I feel pretty positive and patient about the whole adoption. Other times the road just feels LONG. Oh it gets hard. And discouraging. And old. And confusing.

 

Christmas cereal lives on! This tradition is something my family does.

 

Paige in her Christmas jammies finally ready to go.

 

We lack a photographer and the ability to take good pictures of ourselves, but we tried.

 

And then this happened. Everyone else in the world was so excited about a white Christmas, and I was the realistic one who hates cold and snow. We went to dinner at Mark's parents and then went to visit my grandparents. By the time we got home, there was some serious wind and drifting. Our neighbors got stuck, we got stuck, then Mark got stuck trying to get us unstuck. It became a neighborhood affair and about an hour later we were all able to get out. I really think that people who love this type of weather need to be evaluated. Snow, I loathe you.

 

Paige mostly got toy food and My Little Pony paraphernalia. She loves to play restaurant and throw parties. I got her a sandwich kit, cake, and money. It has been a huge hit. She did FaceTime with Mom, Dad, and BJ and made them all food. When they were done, I started to pick things up and Paige got really upset. She told me I couldn't put the food away yet because her customers weren't done and she would lose their trust. No kidding, those were her exact words. Lose their trust. That kid takes it seriously! Mark got a new laptop bag that isn't as cool as I thought it was online. Kind of a bummer. Mark got me an iPhone 6 which is pretty stinking cool. I spent the next day setting everything up and updating iTunes. I finally imported all my old cd's and organized all my playlists. Memories for sure. I feel like I am 18 again, dragging Main and headed to soccer games blasting tunes.  It was a great Christmas and we feel very blessed to have each other, wonderful friends and family, and a renewed love for our Savior.  He IS the gift!