Christmas came and went....

And it's wake left a myriad of emotions: joy, fun, love, peace, thankfulness, heartache, hurt, and sadness. And now, I am tired and looking for a week of relative quiet. I said in my Christmas letter this year that people told me I would get my joy back. In some ways, 9 of them actually, I never lost my joy. How can you not have some joy here on earth when surrounded by faces such as these? My husband and I both mentioned this year how thankful we were to have children in our lives. Innocent children. Oh to be a kid again! And this was taken Before dessert!! I mentioned in previous posts that I was making aprons for the grandmunchkins. Never did I expect them to like them as much as they did. I expected them to use them but not to put them on after opening them and wear them the rest of the night! The chef's hats too!

We had one more grandmunchkin this year. A sweet 6 month old that napped infrequently because she didn't want to miss anything. And, although tired, she kept her sweet demeanor throughout the entire day with only a small nap to sustain her. Her Daddy is so proud of her and she has filled his heart and helped ease his pain a little. He's hurting, maybe more than the rest of us, and I'm grateful God gave him such a blessing to focus on.

As usual, I was not prepared, ready, or entering the day with a completed list. But after watching the grandmuchkins eager to help and enjoying it so much, from now on, I'm not going to be ready. I'm going to have things that need to be done that little hands can help with and enjoy working alongside of them. That's what I did today and it was one of the best Christmas dinners ever because we'd had fun together getting ready. No, the meat wasn't ready on time, the ice had partially melted in the glasses waiting, the potatoes were a bit too cooked, but we'd had fun anyway!

My husband is a take charge, get in and help kind of guy and he was working right along with the grandmunchkins and involving them in whatever he did. That's typical for him, be it getting ready for Christmas dinner, or raking leaves, or getting the boat ready for a fishing trip.

It's been a tradition for some years to read a book before opening gifts. The book centers around the Nativity but is a fictional account. Per a suggestion from a dear friend on ravelry, we read, "The Donkey's Dream" this year. The pictures were wonderful and the story so sweet. Perfect. Or so we thought. But it wasn't enough. They wanted a second story! So we read, "The Christmas Star". I love this time of the evening and I always look forward to picking out a book.

Yes! He is paying attention! I know he is because in interjected comments thoughout the story!

Another tradition is banana splits for dessert. Our son in law suggested it several years ago and it's become a family favorite. No pies, cakes, cookies...Banana splits! And my husband, with help, is the banana split server. He takes orders and serves them up, just right.

I did a lot of sewing this year and didn't get all the knitting done that I wanted to do. Actually, I didn't get any knitting done. I showed the aprons, pjs, shirts, and jumpers in previous posts so here are those on the actual models. They're cuter that way.

Yep, it's going to fit!