The End of the Holiday Season

After all the presents and wrapping and special Christmas meals, the holiday season is over. For Christmas Eve, I had over 40 people in my house, which were mostly my family and a few friends.

 

I know the food was a success and so were the gifts. I was blown away with my presents. This year, I got a Kindle Fire and an iPad! Imagine that. Talk about being good…I think that I must have been very, very good to get those presents!

 

Sometimes I think though besides the food and gifts, and the hectic moment when my decorated Christmas tree fell over, and trying to find the right date for our annual cookie exchange to accommodate everyone – I am amazed that in the end, it all falls together.

 

My favorite time during the holidays is watching my family, especially my grandchildren open their presents. And of course the hugs and kisses that I get from them are totally priceless. My favorite presents are the pictures that my grandchildren have colored and given to me. I prompt put them up on my refrigerator. And of course there were the homemade presents that made a hit, like the wooden cross that my grandson, Tyler, made and colored, and the wooden box that my granddaughter, Bayleigh, made and decorated for me. She put her picture on it, the one with her standing in the Butterfly Area with a butterfly perched on her finger. We spent an afternoon at Phipps Conservatory together a few years ago. There was also the beautiful diamond heart bracelet that Mika gave me. I think she is still trying to make up for the black eye that she gave me a few years ago.

 

I guess those moments and the other two where I held my granddaughter, Juliette, and my newest grandson, Noah Michael, had to be one of those precious moments. It’s when everything else fades into the background and just being with family and enjoying them in the moment is all that really matters.