As early as last month my husband had been warning me that ‘ it will be a small Christmas ‘.  Nonsense!  I don’t believe in ‘ small Christmases ‘.  Inexpensive maybe, but not small.

My oldest son, just back from Iraq, arrived with his youngest son which with just their presence already elevated the joy of the season.  We went to the mountains to cut down a Christmas tree, we decorated it over carols and homemade egg nog.  It still amazes me how the kids can identify and date every single faded construction paper ornament decorated with glitter, macaroni and tin foil, each lovingly wrapped like priceless works of art (which they are). 

What I have noticed over the years that my husband did not was that it wasn’t the presents that the kids would remember over the years but the traditions of the season.  They would forget all the Barbie dolls and Transformers they’d received over the years.  The drum set and guitars  we saved so hard to buy would one day be sold at a yard sale.  But the trips to the mountains, trekking through the snow to find the perfect Charlie Brown Christmas tree, the plate of carrots on the porch each year (even this year) for Santa’s reindeer, the tree trimming parties, the caroling, the present wrapping parties, the year of the Christmas potato (I couldn’t find a piece of coal, or even a rock on Christmas Eve for a couple of naughty boys so I wrapped a potato), the year Santa forgot to buy wrapping paper and ended up wrapping all the presents in butcher paper, those memories would last forever.  Those are little things are what really matter.

So yes, this year we had a HUGE Christmas, as we do each and every year. 

Seasons Greetings to all!

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