(Hope You Had a) Holly Jolly Christmas

I love Christmas - I love the lights, the music, the food, the presents (I'm still a kid at heart, what can I say?), baby Jesus, and getting to spend time with the people that I love most. This year was no exception. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope that you did too.

This is the first year out of the last 5 that we spent the entire Christmas season at home. Normally we spend some part of the vacation in Florida with my family. This year (some of) Florida came to us! My mom and dad arrived on the 16th and we have been having fun, fun, fun ever since!

We started the Christmas week by celebrating with Jeremy's dad, Clark, his girlfriend, Jeannie, his brother, Brett, and his girlfriend, Molly. We had a great dinner at the Olive Garden (my fav!). It had been WAY too long since we had all been together.

On Christmas Eve we went to Jeremy's grandparent's house for lunch with his side of the fam. Gramps was feeling good and looking great. That was the best Christmas present any of us could have asked for!

That evening we went to church and performed our Christmas musical. For the last few years (4 maybe?) JZ and I have worked with a great team of friends to put on a musical/drama with the kids of our congregation. Each year we all freak out and think that it is never going to come together, but it always does. We somehow forget that, only a week before, we were all swearing that, "We are never going to do this again." Somehow, when it all comes together perfectly, we all remember why we do it - to give our kids the opportunity to share the story of Jesus's birth in their own way. This year we performed a musical called Imagine Christmas. It was a modern twist on the biblical story - I think the electric guitar, fog machine, and lights made it modern. Pretty much it just rocked! Even with the twists the story was still the same and seemed to touch the hearts of the audience members. Also, our kids are great. They are cute. They are endearing. They love Jesus and wanted to celebrate His birthday the best way they could. This was their gift to Him. What's not to love about that? For a more detailed version of our performance and some pics, check out my friend Amanda's blog (http://www.lifewiththethreeamigos.blogspot.com/).

No mater how old I get, Christmas morning still makes me feel like the kid at heart I am. It takes all the restraint I have not to leave cookies and milk out for Santa and get up as soon as my eyes pop open at 5 am. This year I made it until almost 9! Now, I know the true meaning of Christmas. I know it is not about the gifts and presents under the tree. But this year a few of the gifts under the tree were so meaningful and sentimental I had to share them.

I have never cried so much on Christmas morning - I cried at a gift we gave my dad, a gift my dad gave my mom, and twice at gifts that were given to me. Here are my favorites:


This is a crystal stork with a baby in the basket that my parents gave us. Not only is it beautiful and sparkly, but it has a great story too. When my mom was pregnant with me, my dad found this man who made her a crystal stork and baby and gave it to her for Christmas. A few weeks later it got knocked over and one of the teeny tiny stork legs broke. She cried and cried. My dad fixed it for her, and to make sure it didn't break anymore, masking taped the stork to a 3x3 piece of cardboard. She still has the stork on her dresser today. Growing up, I always knew it was a "treasure" I was not supposed to touch and that the baby in the basket was me. I never understood why this pretty crystal stork was making taped to cardboard, but now I know and now I have one of my very own (minus the cardboard - they have made the legs stronger now!).




I also blubbered at a gift JZ gave to me. A few years ago, he bought me a new wedding ring (I know, spoiled Princess!). It is so beautiful, but we never got the wedding band to go with it. For the last four years I have been dropping oh so subtle hints about how much I would love the band that goes with it. Since I've gotten pregnant I say things like, "Sure would be nice to get married before I have your baby," etc. Lots of you are probably thinking that I just wanted more jewelry, but the truth is that I love the symbolism of the band. I love that it goes on forever without end, just like our love. I love that it is an outward symbol to the world that I am a "taken" gal. Cheesy, old fashioned, I know. Can't help it, I love tradition. Anyway, I thought my Christmas was pretty much over. All of my presents had been opened - just my stocking left. Normally my stocking has things like bubble bath and candy. This year it had a pretty black box in it. Even before I took off the bow to see the name on the box, I knew where it was from. It's not Tiffany's, but it still has the same automatic recognition for me. Inside was my pretty little silver band. Even being fat, emotional, and tired all the time, he still wants to marry me. That is a sign of true love! After 6 years of being married to JZ I can honestly say that I was lucky enough to find a man with integrity, compassion, honesty, humor, and humility. I told him I'd think about it. :) Just kidding, everyone knows I'd marry him again in a heartbeat!

From our (growing) family to yours, we wish you a belated Merry Christmas, and a safe, prosperous, and peaceful New Year!