It’s the new year and one of the things I want to do is update our family website more .  We’ll see how long it lasts.

We had a lovely Christmas this year.  Simple and sweet.  GG (my grammy) and TT (my grandpa…grandpy sounds weird) came to visit us.  On Christmas Eve, we went to Santa Maria where Brent’s mom really outdid herself and served a wonderful Swedish smorgasbord.  That night we went to church for the Christmas Eve service.  Our family lit one of the advent candles.  The candle of joy.  I was actually going to light the candle while Brent was reading but I couldn’t get the lighter to work.  Hello.  You’d think by now I’d could work one of those things.    At least you’d think.

After church we came home and tried to coax two anxious boys to sleep so Santa could come.  We set out chocolate chip cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer.   Of course, the next morning the boys were delighted to find Santa had filled their stockings with all sorts of junk from China and candy.  Except Santa had mistakenly given them cherry flavored candy canes “AGAIN” even when they specifically wrote “MINT” on their lists.  I told  them Santa is probably pretty clueless since he lives all the way in North Pole.  Nathanael agreed since he also leaves ash all over the floor around the fireplace.  Come on Santa get a clue.  Not only that but the elves have quit making toys.  Instead they all sit around in cubicles ordering stuff on the Internet which is why everything says “Made in China”.  Nathanael is 8.  I really need to give this up before he gets made fun of at school.  But it’s just so sweet watching them get so excited about a fat man in a red suit who squeezes himself down chimneys and fills stockings with stuff they get bored with in 5 minutes.

Amazingly GG and TT arrived at 8:30 am. 😉  We all opened presents and then started making waffles.  It’s been a tradition since I was a kid.  I love it, especially when the waffles aren’t soggy!!!  After waffles Brent started in building the Lego Republic Gunship and soon discovered that was all he was going to do on Christmas day seeing that the gunship is over 1000 pieces.  Nathanael  also started building his new Lego airport and was done in less than two hours.  Maybe he should give Brent building lessons.  As the builders built, GG and I started making dinner.  Every year I make a special roast lamb.  It’s really good and since we eat chicken 364 days out of the year it’s a real treat.

As the lamb was cooking the boys and I went to the hospital to visit Lucille.  Lucille is one of the elderly women we deliver groceries too through an organization called Shop Ahoy.  The past year we have become quite close to Lucille.  Unfortunately these last few months she has taken a turn for the worse and ended up back in the hospital Dec 23.  As we drove over we all practiced singing Silent Night together.  Once we got there it was disappointing to find Lucille in such bad shape and I was having difficulty holding my tears as I read the story of the birth of Jesus to her.  And when Noah started singing the first verse of Silent Night to her I gave up.  Nathanael followed Noah with the second verse and we all sang the last verse together.  I was so proud of them.  They both sang with a sincerity that would melt the heart of the scroogiest of scrooges. Or in Lucille’s case make the weakest of the weak smile.  It was the only time I saw her smile the entire time we were there.

It wasn’t long after returning home that we finished cooking dinner and had a wonderful feast.  Lastly, before my grandparents and cousin Danny left for home we put a gold candle in the middle of a pumpkin pie and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Yeah, I know it’s sort of corny and my kids will think were weirdos when they get older.  That’s okay.  They are probably right.