Christmas Eve we had a church service followed by dinner at our house and “crank caroling” various unsuspecting victims. (Mom wondered the next day why we kept hanging up on her.) That night Luke fell ill, but seemed to come back to life the next morning. The boys snuck downstairs together, then woke us up with the gentle sounds of the whoopie cushions they found in their stockings.
We had an assortment of shipped packages under the tree from our Secret Santa relatives. We figured out that Hei had me, Susie had Luke, Uncle Walt had Josh, and Matilda had Liz. On the flip side, I had Kristine, Luke had PJ, Josh had Jerome, and Liz had Jen. It is so much fun drawing names!
The boys favorite gift by a long shot was new DSi handheld games from their Grandma K and Grandpa Paul. It was very last package was opened up, and as soon as they realized what it was they were blown away. It wasn’t on either boy’s wish list because it was just too good, just too much. I’m pretty sure I got the cheers, dancing, fist pumps, and singing on video.
It reminded me of Christmas 1980. I know you aren’t supposed to love receiving presents, but sometimes the planets align, you get exactly what you wished you wanted, or more than you even dreamed, and it is just magic. For me that was when I was 10 and got the electronic head-to-head football game. I’m convinced that game of flashing dashes was a big part of why I eventually became an electrical engineer. Who knows if this will be “the” present of their childhood, but it certainly was cool to see their shocked appreciative faces. (It'll be our parental duty to maintain balance so they don't turn into video game dazed zombies...)
Not long after the gifts were opened, Luke faded into his first feverish nap of the day.
Then despite our warnings, Vonda came over to share the Christmas cheer with us.
We tried to take a “thug” shot together, but never got it to work out. So much for that.
It wasn’t the Christmas day we had planned, but it was good just the same.
