Christmas celebration for us starts on Christmas Eve. For me the day started with sleeping in and then going on a 6 AM 6 mile run with Melissa (compared to a 5 AM start time, 6 feels marvelous). Then I went home and prepared homemade waffles for us to have breakfast with our friend Bill.
We spent some time goofing around and cleaning up afterwards. I told the boys that the house had to be clean or else Santa would not bring them toys. Mikey, the work horse, was strong at work. He kept on asking me, in a worried tone, "Have you called Santa yet?"
We had to get Evee's blood drawn to get tested before her surgery, so we went to a lab. Unfortunately for us, it was closed. But it was okay for Todd was sure that the tests that were needed could be run before and during the surgery.
We stopped by my friend's house to drop off a gift, and though just Todd and I went to the door in attempts to not disturb their Christmas Eve celebrations, my friend and her 5 kids invited us and our 5 kids in to play. The boys had a great time and were disappointed when it was time to go home, but the reminder that we were going to be celebrating Christmas helped soothe them.
For dinner we had our "traditional" cheese fondue dinner. It was awesome.
Afterwards we got the Nativity costumes out.
The boys were super excited to be dressing up this year. Grant and William were Wise Men, and also played as angels and innkeepers. Roger was a shepherd (with Joey as his sheep), and he also played as an innkeeper and a wise man. Mikey also was a shepherd and played as Angel Gabriel and King Herod. I was Mary, Todd was Joseph, and Evee played the part of Baby Jesus.
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| William and Grant are the Angels talking to the Shepherds |
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| The Wise Men talking to King Herod |
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| "Baby Jesus" being very happy |
As the boys got out of their costumes, I brought out their Christmas Pajamas. Unfortunately I hadn't gotten a chance to wrap them, but the boys were excited just the same. They got dressed and we got ready for bed....well, they did.
I had been meaning to wrap the boys presents for some time. But by the time the boys got to bed, I was too tired and exhausted to stay up to wrap presents. So, yes, even though my intentions were to be able to go to bed at a good time Christmas Eve, Todd and I stayed up until 3 AM.
At 8 AM (yes, my boys are nice) I awoke to 4 boys in my room. They were very patient when I told them that I first needed to feed Evee before we went downstairs. After I fed Evelyn, the boys were more than ready to go downstairs.
The boys excitement was magical when they entered the living room. They went straight for the stockings to see what Santa brought them. He brought them a lot of squishy-type toys, ones that are very similar to quarter machine finds.
The boys were very pleased with this. They sat and played with these toys for an hour, each of them saying at different times, "This is the BEST Christmas EVER!" All this before any of the "good" presents had even been opened or looked at.
This summer Todd and I had noticed that Mikey and Roger needed bigger bikes. Not wanting to just buy them for "no reason", we decided that the boys could wait until Christmas. I had found a great deal for bikes online and we had the bikes out for the boys on Christmas morning. Strange that they found more joy in their little squishy toys than they did in their big, beautiful bikes.
We then started opening presents. Grant got a PlayMobil Ambulance from my dad. I'm not sure who was more excited about it, Grant or Todd.
We got to Skype with my sister LeNae, who is serving on a mission in Spain. It was so good to see her, and she looked fantastic. She really seems to be doing so well and remains optimistic. She got to see Evelyn (even though it meant that I had to wake Evee up from her nap).
The boys got to open each other's gifts. Earlier this month there was a "Secret Santa Shop" that was put on by the local PTA. It really is a great thing, for the PTA gets all these gifts donated from local businesses. Then the kids go into the "shopping area" with an "elf" and are able to purchase gifts with everything being priced between 25 cents to 5 dollars. The boys were able to get their 3 brothers, Evelyn, Todd and me gifts all for $12 or less!
The gifts were cute, and interesting. Grant got Evee a blanket and Todd golf balls (no, he does not play golf). William got Evee a doll and Todd Cleveland Brown Martini stirring sticks.
After all the presents were unwrapped, the boys had many options of toys to play with, and play they did. I ended up taking a nice long nap with Evee. We both enjoyed it very much.
For dinner we had the missionaries and a friend over for dinner. I had signed up to feed the missionaries before we knew Evee would be needing surgery. I contemplated canceling with them, but decided against it. I am glad that we still chose to feed them for it did help get our minds off the next day's event.
Dinner was delicious, and the conversation was enjoyable. One of the benefits of having the mission president in our ward is that we usually have outstanding missionaries in our area. Because it was Christmas, the missionaries didn't have to be in and out in an hour, but rather were able to spend some time with us.
While we were finishing up dinner, Todd's parents came. They had taken off work so that they could be with the boys on the day that Evee went in for surgery.
After dinner the missionaries gave our family a lesson. Then Todd, with the assistance of his dad and the missionaries gave Evelyn a priesthood blessing.
In the blessing, Todd blessed that Evelyn would continue on her own course of development and that she would "come back" to us. One thing that we have been very concerned about the surgery is that what if it changed her, made her lose brain and cognitive function. We love Evee, and we love who she is. She is such a pleasant little sunshine and to think that her personality may change because of a brain surgery was very worrisome to us. I found a lot of comfort in hearing the words of the blessing.
This Christmas Season has definitely been a different one. I have been so busy and worried with Evee's health. I have felt overwhelmed with the heaviness of what is going on with her little body that I haven't had much time and emotional energy to think too much about Christmas. I felt so guilty that I wasn't living the Season up with all sorts of activities and excitements, especially with having young children in my home. Honestly, if it weren't for the boys, I would have gladly canceled Christmas for us this year.
It turned out being a great Christmas. I loved seeing the joy of the boys. I was able to get all of their gifts fairly easily without too much shopping around. (It was difficult though for I had to sneak the gifts into the bottom of the shopping cart for I would have the boys with me while I shopped).
I felt that the day wasn't too busy (I took a 2 hour nap), but that there was enough going on to where my attention wasn't focused on the next day. It was a nice day to spend with my boys and girl.
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