Christmas 2008

Our Christmas this year was very different from Christmases in the past. We didn’t have lots of hustle and bustle. We didn’t go to many activities. We didn’t have the house all decked out. We didn’t have lots of Christmas baked goods. I was recovering from surgery, so things were very low key.

On Christmas Eve, we sat down to watch The Nativity Story as a family. Munchkin cuddled with Daddy, and I relaxed in the recliner. We discussed different aspects that we know were incorrect (such as the wise men coming to see Jesus on the night that he was born). We really enjoy this movie as it helps us appreciate how things were during that time period. D told us that many things (such as the living arrangements) are still the same now over there.

After the movie, we read the Christmas story and Munchkin did her little Nativity scene. Then, it was time for Munchkin to head to bed. Daddy and I brought out the gifts and placed them by the tree. While we don’t do Santa, we do have fun surprising her with the gifts on Christmas morning. We placed our items in the stockings and headed to bed to relax and watch a movie.

Christmas morning started much earlier than expected. Munchkin normally doesn’t wake up early, but she said that she was unable to sleep. I got up with Munchkin and turned on the Christmas music. She and I got started on the monkey bread while we allowed D to sleep a little longer. Once it was in the oven, we woke D up. After he started his coffee brewing, we went to the living room and opened our stockings. By the time that we were done with the stockings, our monkey bread was ready. Yum!

After breakfast, we enjoyed taking turns opening presents. We were very blessed with all of the wonderful gifts that we received from each other and from our family. After presents, we got the ham ready to put in the oven. Yes, D helped with the ham as it was over my 10 lb. weight limit. Cooking has become a group effort. It’s fun working together in the kitchen. Once the ham was in the oven, it was time to relax and have fun.

Munchkin didn’t know what she wanted to play with first. We ended up playing the Wii game, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? together as a family. After that, we played Mario Cart which is a blast!! Munchkin then settled in to play with her new Legos.

We ended up having sandwiches for lunch and the ham meal for dinner. We also had 2 small birthday cakes for Jesus. We decided that we wouldn’t be doing any work on Christmas Day, so our whole day was very relaxing. It was so wonderful to have D home with us this year. We were together as a family which to us was the best (earthly) Christmas present of all.