A Magical Time to Remember

I love this time of year!!!! This picture is a little Christmas memory from last year when we went to the beach on Christmas Eve and dad sculpted a nativity scene out of sand. It was a unique way to spend the holiday especially for us, since we'd had a white Christmas for 6 years prior to last year. That sweet little moment on the beach with no one crying or teasing, watching the sun set on our little nativity, singing Silent Night, was touching.

Now when we came upon this Christmas and I found that I'd grown up faster than I remembered and this was the last December 25th I would spend living at home. Every once and a while mom will make matching "jammies" for us. This year was one of the years she surprised us with light blue pajama pants. Here Starr models them:

One other way that this year was different than usual is we decided to give gifts to everyone in the family this year instead of drawing names. Despite the pressure of coming up with eight memorable gifts I was excited because I wanted to give something memorable to everyone. Carried away, as I often get, with the fantasy that I could sew matching skirts for all the girls and matching ties for the boys I set about to get the material. Unfortunately my dream ended in tangled frustration as I jammed the sewing machine time after time, the material was all wrong, and time was running out. So plan "B" came to life. Many of my gifts became gifts of time. Jay J received an all you can eat pizza hut coupon which he promptly redeemed the day after Christmas. Together we ate enough pepperoni and cinnamon sticks to feed the entire Saipan young men. Reece, a guy with a sweet soft side, dressed up in his very best to escort his sister (me) attired in her prom dress, to Hyatt beach where we had a picnic dinner and danced in the beautiful garden there. Starr was the happy recipient of a "Princess Day" complete with breakfast in bed, manicure/pedicure, hair styling, shopping, ice cream, and bubble bath. Tori has new curtains and shoes, Skylar won't be doing any dishes for three months, mom's got a years worth of pedicures, Dad will enjoy a clean car for quite a while, Sterling's going to learn to fly a kite, and Tikla is going to need a really long nap. (wink wink)
I sure love my family. It's easy to get busy with "important stuff" and miss the most wonderful moments of all. Conner's invited us up to their house for Christmas Day and it felt like I'd gone to visit my cousins. The Saipan branch is just like family to us. We got to meet the rest of their family, (Levi, Alexa, and Mallory) and had a laughter filled evening. I could ride around the entire world and fill my boat with really good people, but for now I'll enjoy the ones swimming in my own little pond. Happy Holidays Everyone!