Remembering December Pt. III: Christmases #1 and #2

That's right. I'm doggedly hanging on. I WILL TELL THIS CHRISTMAS STORY. Even if I don't wrap up until June...

After the weekend in Austin, we made the short journey to Brady for our Vickers family Christmas festivities. Luke was the most pitiful boy in the world during the drive, and my momma heart broke a million times for him, strapped in back there by himself, but thankfully, he and I both managed to sleep through most of the trip.

We arrived at Granddad and DD's house and Luke did his best to shake off the yuckies so that he could enjoy being with his cousins Jacob and Thaine, but it wasn't long before sister Sarah began taking a nosedive. We all attended evening church services in Brady, and I was so proud of how still and quiet my kids were! Until I realized that they weren't moving because they were so very sick.... Anyway, it took another twenty-four hours of constant Sarah-holding before we finally brought them into Granddad's clinic, where Sarah scored a positive on the influenza A virus, and all of the past forty-eight hours began to make a whole lot more sense.

Armed with enough Tamiflu to take care of our (sizable) Christmas-time household, we went back to the house and focused on getting the kids comfortable (and swallowing that magic powder!). By the next day, even Sarah was looking much better, as you can see from the family photo we took:

Er, well, maybe not, but I promise that she really had improved a lot. P and I were so very grateful for the gifts of modern medicine and a doctor in the family. Being sick is the pits! And would you believe it? Not one other person came down with flu in the four days we were together! I'd call that a Christmas miracle.

Moving on to more pleasant topics... Our time in Brady was, as always, very special. P's grandmother is Danish, and so his family is very particular about carrying on certain holiday traditions; even though our gathering this year was smaller than in the past (when the entire Turnbough clan celebrates together with GiGi), we still managed to have klejner (Danish Christmas cookies), aebleskiver (Danish pancake balls), and a Christmas dinner replete with duck and red cabbage. P's sister Leah is largely to thank for all of that; every year, she makes huge batches of klejner for everyone to enjoy, and this year, she practically never left the kitchen! Of course, she had help here and there, but I want you to know that it was amazing to watch that woman work... and also, it was amazing to eat the yummy food she prepared.... :)

While the kitchen hummed, the five grandkids had little trouble entertaining themselves. Sarah spent hours with DD's Little People nativity set, and the boys kept busy with trains and Duplos and balls and puzzles. The weather turned out to be much colder than I anticipated, so we didn't spend much time outside - in fact, P and I had to make a few extra runs to Wal-Mart just to buy our kids extra sweaters and long pants! I'm not sure what I was expecting when I packed... but packing has never been my strong suit. And besides that, this winter has made me give up completely on planning for the weather - heck, I've just about given up completely on warmth ever returning to our land! (As I type, there is snow on the ground outside. I ask you. What is going on? There is a reason I live in the south - and it is not for three months of snow and ice!) Ahem. Moving On. (And no promises that you won't hear that rant again on this blog.)

On Christmas Eve, we went on a brief caroling expedition before sitting down around the Christmas tree to open gifts for the kids and the grandparents. I have photos from that event, but if you'll just imagine a blur of wrapping paper and running preschoolers, you'll get the idea. Our kids were blessed with several really neat new toys and gifts, and afterwards, all five of them sat around in the living room taking turns with each of the new things. I really love this age when little boys have no qualms about sitting down in front of Sarah's new Fairy Treehouse and playing their hearts out.

Overall, I have to say that the kids were incredibly good about sharing their toys - there were a few arguments here and there, and I had to occasionally remind Luke that he had his own Superman action figure to play with, but I think they did quite well together. And that spirit even extended through Christmas morning, when the Big Stuff rolled out.

P and I are still working on figuring out how our own Christmas traditions will fit into the ones of our extended families, and this year, we decided to keep all of our own gifts for ourselves and the kids at home to be opened later - but we made sure that Santa had our "forwarding address" in Brady, so on Christmas morning, we awoke to the sight of a pink guitar and an awesome new marble run, along with stockings filled to the brim. P made oatmeal pancakes for all to enjoy, and we sat back and savored that one-of-a-kind aura of peace and joy (and sugar-highs) that is Christmas morning.

(I could not resist including the photo I snapped
of Aunt Jessica working on the marble run... the kids certainly
weren't the only ones to enjoy Christmas this year!)

Once the kids had polished off their Hershey's kisses and gotten some good play time in with the new toys, we headed out to Square A Ranch to check on Granddad's cows before it was time to drive back home. Leah and I probably got a little out of hand with our cameras, but it's hard to resist capturing the sight of kids and their grandfather on a farm... plus, it was a beautiful day.

Knowing that we had some Christmas waiting for us back at home, we packed up that afternoon and made our way to Fort Worth. After the excitement of six days with various cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, our home was awfully quiet. And yet, we managed to have a sweet time opening gifts together, and there's nothing quite like the joy of having given a gift that is truly appreciated. And if there's one thing my kids appreciate, it's toys... 

But seriously, the moment I hope to remember always from our evening together is the heart-stopping moment when Sarah broke her new wand in two while trying to unwrap it; it was the gift that Luke had picked out from the Dollar Tree, so it's no surprise that it failed us from the start, but nonetheless, it was a gift he was excited about and that I knew she'd love - so when I heard that snap, my heart sank. But oh, that sweet girl! She didn't act for one moment like the thing was broken - instead, she wielded the stick part like a genuine princess "gwand" and marveled at the heart topper as a beautiful pink thing that she'd treasure always... Fortunately, the topper opened up like a locket (Dollar Tree stuff is weird...), so I ran and grabbed some yarn, and in the twinkling of an eye, that broken topper was magically transformed into a beautiful necklace. And since all necklaces at the time were being called "pixie dust," thanks to too much time watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates, it was truly a valuable addition to Sarah's collection. I think she wore it every day for the next few weeks...

Some years, we are better at really working on the "spiritual side" of Christmas. And perhaps in the future, our attempts at doing Advent activities will last past the second week of the month, and our efforts to reach out to others won't be foiled by sickness or ice or just general busy-ness. However, I think that even in these years when we are too sick or too iced in or too busy traveling to fill each day with holy intent, the holiness manages to seep in. What is the Nativity if it isn't a young family doing its best to survive? And although I dare not compare our life's challenges with those of Mary and Joseph, I still dare to see in the flurries of our holidays the joy of new life, the joy of precious gifts, and the joy of God reaching out to touch us with human hands.