There Are Twelve Days of Christmas

Our Christmas was unusual this year.  Yesterday Dominic worked until 2, and then had to get on a plane to California to pick Karina up and bring her here for a week to visit with us.  In order to not miss out on Christmas together, we celebrated on Christmas Eve instead.

So, Christmas Eve morning found that Santa had indeed come a day early (per mommy's request).  Piper and Bridget found that they had received the Dora the Explorer Talking Kitchen, and Reagan had been left his Spyro video game.   They played with them all morning until Daddy came home, then we unwrapped all the presents.

In the evening I made a Christmas dinner with ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, etc. etc.  It wasn't the feast that my mother would have served, but it was a lovely treat.  The best part of dinner, however, wasn't the food.

In my house we had a tradition.  Christmas crackers.  Most of my American friends won't know what these are, but my friends from the UK will!  Since I've been in Minnesota, they'be been impossible to find.  If you want anything having to do with a Norwegian Christmas, you're set.  But anything having to do with a British Christmas, and you're out of luck!  Now, my kids watch the Tellytubbies, and during their Christmas video, one of them receives a cracker for Christmas.  Also, there are kids making crackers.  This has left Piper asking for crackers every single day.  And, as they are a part of my family's Christmas tradition, I wanted them too!  My mother kindly found them and sent me enough for at least two Christmases.  So our Christmas dinner was complete with paper crowns, silly jokes, and sillier toys.  It was perfect.

This Christmas has left me feeling incredibly grateful for the many gifts that God has given me.  Not the least of which are sleeping soundly at the moment.  And, looking back at our year has left me thankful for the ultimate gift of Christ on the cross.  He was God from the moment of his birth, and no less special on that night that he was born than he was 30 years later as he began his ministry.