christmas day 2009.

the mean mom i am, i make the kiddos stay upstairs until i say they can come down to see what santa has brought them. they all slept in the same room with the beds pushed together and a cell phone on the nightstand (to give me a ring when they woke up)....

i got a call at 7:35 saying, "Mom we are awake and we can't wait another minute." i had just gotten out of the shower so they had to wait a little while so I could get dressed and have the cameras ready. pure torture for them...

down the stairs they tumbled with hope in their faces...


kate got her wish, a cinderella music box.



jackson, a new bike, and his dream spy car.




taylor, .... a new spiffy room.


levi, balls, a hoop, and an apple.


and Chad did his best to stay awake through it all... (Christmas preparations had us up til 2 am)



They all exclaimed... "this is the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER." I have to agree, it really was a beautiful day. We enjoyed watching Levi in all of his excitement, having a crazy 18 month old makes Christmas extra fabulous. After opening all the gifts we headed over to Grama Linda's where she fed us as usual and we had more gift giving ahead of us. My sisters and i pooled together and had the amazing Miss Kim paint a piece of art of the 5 girls for my parents. it turned out beautifully and left us all a little emotional. i will post pictures soon.


As wonderful of a day as it was, I missed my grandma's. I've never had a Christmas Eve without my Grandma S. and I've never had a Christmas Day with out my Grami. Papa Jack was so emotional and so sweet as he sat in Grami's chair. He cried countless times and said over and over, "I miss her SO much." I kept telling Chad, "Will you miss me that much if I die before you?.... because you better!" We all felt the missing pieces this Christmas seeing how Grami is what made Christmas, Christmas. I miss seeing her squeal as the little ones opened their gifts, I miss seeing her smile as she looked on at all the major spoiling she just created, I miss her showing me her new piece of jewelry that Papa Jack gave her that morning, most of all I just plain miss her. As the tears flow as I right this, I think of how much my Grandma's loved me and how well they showed it. That is how I want to be, they are who I want to be. Family connections and relationships are the beauty of life and I am blessed to have had them be such a part of mine. Christmas' will continue as the years go on, and I will always remember how special they made that day for me as my children's Grama's make it so special for them. Family... nothing is better than family and I'm glad I know it's forever.

merry christmas.