Oh Christmas Tree

You want a Christmas full of stories? Well, you've come to the right place. Except that somewhere between when I thought of a ton of stories to write about and now, I seem to have forgotten a few. Let me start with a really good one and see what we get from there.

So as you may have read on my last post. We were without a Christmas tree on the eve of the big holiday because there weren't any left in town. Then, an angel whom we'll call Sarah (otherwise known as Lucas' sister and Auntie Sarah), appeared for her visit with a beautiful tree in the back of her truck. There were still trees where she lives, so she thought she'd bring an extra present. I have to say that I was nearly moved to tears by her kindness. I had never realized how empty and nonfestive a house would be without a tree. The other decorations should be enough, right? Wrong...wrong...wrong. A tree is such an important part of setting the mood. How silly! Thank you Auntie Sarah for helping to make this Christmas such a special holiday.

Though it's not a story, we did have Lucas' parents here for a visit as well. I enjoyed their company, fine cooking, and help around the house. Dean enjoyed their company and creative ideas. I think Lucas was just as excited about being surrounded by his family as he was about the helpfulness of them being here. We were truly blessed.

This Christmas is the first present related celebration that Dean learned that presents have really cool things inside. That made it extra fun and eventually overwhelming for him. He was really excited about so many presents, but the funniest one was a red dog (stuffed animal) that he got from the same auntie mentioned above. When he opened it, he started barking and rolling around with hysterical spasm-like energy all over the living room floor. I tried to get it on camera, but failed. Oh how I failed. It was pretty funny to watch though.

The only other story I can remember is not a funny one. Lucas was pulling the ham out of the oven and managed to spill the liquid on his thigh. Well, ok maybe it was a little funny when I heard him yell ouch and came into the kitchen to find him with his pants around his ankles. That's my preteen since of humor I suppose. After running cool water over it for a bit it turned out fine. Poor Lucas.

A picture of the family (and tree). As always, double click the picture for a larger image.

The boys...