Christmas - Day 23

Today was my "big" Christmas bash. Though I will have a gift exchange with my parents on Christmas day, today was the day we had the official family Christmas.

First I went to church - and it was SO GOOD to be there after two weeks of being gone. I'd missed my row-o-chairs! During Sunday School I helped the jr. high class sort Christmas cards and then we all passed them out to people between Sunday School and church. I love to sort, so I was perfectly happy.

Right as church was starting, my friend Chris tracked me down with his almost two-year-old son on his arm and a panicked look on his face. Given that today was the children's Christmas program (which his five-year old was participating in and his wife was helping with), I figured he was on video camera duty and there was no one to watch the kiddo. And I was right. So Chris passed Liam off to me and together we continued to hand out Christmas cards. We parked ourselves in our pew and church began. I'm not inclined to allow for much noise - and right at the beginning of church, Liam felt the need to talk. I asked him to whisper, and he said, "WHY?" Well so much for whispering. But God was kind to me and put Liam into a very mellow mood and he sat on my lap without a peep for the entire service, alternately accepting bites of cereal bar, playing with my rings, and trying to figure out how to zip and unzip my purse. It was fun to have him there with me.

After church, I went to my parents' house, and family Christmas began. We had a good time - made complete with me getting the traditional bent-over-under-the-tree Christmas photo of my Mom that you can't see because she could still revoke my gifts. :)

I got some fun presents - new sheets (since my only set encountered that unfortunate agitator episode in the washer) and the world's coolest picture frame. It's from my sister, Lori, and it is a wooden frame that says "Sisters" up in the corner and then our names are etched all over the frame. Never seen anything like it. I'll have to post a picture. I also got a very festive new shirt, a baking stone (YAY!), a new mattress pad (she rolled her eyes upon giving it to me - but I was thrilled! No more stupid vinyl thing!) and FULL SIZE makeup brushes. (I've been using the travel set on a daily basis for about 2 years because I was too cheap to buy the regular ones.) AND - a new novel. LOVE books. So I counted it a good day.

I've spent this evening working on Cassie's scrapbook - my project for the week. I'm mid-volleyball season, so I thought it was a good time to take a break, drink some chai, and enjoy the day!