We survived! Christmas came and went and we made it. It was by far the least stressful Christmas we've ever had, but we sure did stretch it out. Saturday night we headed to Nick and Joys to exchange gifts with them. Then Courtney and Isaac and Salinda and Gabby came on Saturday night. Sunday noon Courtney and Isaac opened presents and it was fun to see Gabby and Isaac interacting. They were so cute and Gabby was so patient!
Christmas eve we did our traditional routine. 5 p.m. service (where our family lit the advent candle -- a story in itself) and then went out for Chinese. A friend from church joined us as she was going to be alone. We had a nice time. Everyone was there except for Mike, Ricardo, and John. John is still in jail and we hadn't heard from Ricardo in months. We knew Mike was coming on Christmas with Tessa and Aiden. We unwrapped gifts at the Chinese place -- kinda chaotic but fun.
Christmas morning we waited until 9:30 a.m. to open presents. A record for us. It was fun and there were even some surprises. At dinner another friend joined us for dinner -- and I think he had a good time. The kids were appropriate and it was a good time. Mike and Tessa showed up -- and Ricardo was there as well! We loved seeing him again. Aiden was especially cute and I loved seeing him with his dad.
So we did it.... we had five gift openings in 4 days and everyone got along and it was all good.
So if you're in the middle of the trenches wondering if it will ever be ok.... it might be. It might not be perfect, but it can be what it is. And sometimes, it's good enough.
So we had 11 of our kids here, 3 grandkids, 2 grandbabymamas, four really good friends, and a daughter-in-law.... and we love them all.
Bart said the other night that the lines of our family have always been permeable. It's a wonderful way to live....
1 comment:
I love the thought of permeable family lines. I realized how much our definition of family has changed when I looked back at our Christmas gatherings which included an ex-son-in-law and his mother, a church friend who was alone, and the pre-adoptive family of our former foster daughter. I started to tell someone who was here and why, and realized it doesn't matter. Family is what and who you make it.
Can't wait to see you in Seattle.
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