Joy!

Merry Christmas to all! What a wonderful day it was here in Minnesota! I am still smiling! The kids, though SO excited to see Santa, slept until 8am, so there was no crazy-early wake up call (like the ones I know I gave my parents when I was a kid!). The children had a great time with every gift, giving full attention to each one and saying "Thank You" after each gift. (Well, Kate said thank you, Liam just got so excited over each present that he cried out "OPEN OPEN" until it was out of the packaging - the cruel joke of how kid toys are packaged to be 'adult proof' is another entry!) They were thrilled by the presents that Santa left and were just a joy to watch as they reveled in toys and tinsel. My folks and Patrick joined us for Xmas morning and we just had a really nice time exchanging wonderful gifts. The kids went upstairs to the playroom and Uncle Pak helped them set up the new train set while my Dad sipped coffee and Nick made Belgian waffles FROM SCRATCH, fresh berries, and bacon. I slaved over setting the table! ha ha :) We had a great big delicious family breakfast and then the kids went back to playing! Mom, Dad and Patrick headed over to the McKenny condo and Kate and I baked a pie and as we were sprinkling cinnamon over apples we looked out the window to find GIANT FAT flakes of snow falling outside. Before long, every tree branch had a coat of white and everything was muted and blanketed - on top of the foot of snow that was already there! :) It was lovely. There is something about baking inside our cozy kitchen with Kate while my sweet baby boy Liam napped and Nick puttered with Xmas gadgets that fills me with more joy than I can say! :) The snow really was icing on the cake!

We all trekked in the gorgeous snow to Nia and Gramps' house, with the pie, for a de-li-cious Christmas dinner. Mom really knocked it out of the park, I have to say! Good family. Good wine. Good food. Good conversation. GREAT laughter.....this was brought on by my Dad's Xmas gift, a nintendo Wii. We had a lot of fun "playing" tennis and bowling and boxing each other. Kate got to sing along to the High School Musical game. Who knew my Mom was a secret video game tennis and boxing star?! It was just family fun, with the help of technology! :)

Anyway - the kiddos are tucked snug in bed, as is pretty much everyone else at this late hour! But I just had to blog about our wonderful day - and how very thankful I am for all the gifts in my life. Not the purses and perfume, train sets and toddler toys....but the people and the moments and the grace. Those are the gifts and thank you to everyone who is a part of that! Much love!