Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a season. And we’ve been busy. I’ve never understood the deriding of common Christmas traditions as being “too commercial” or inappropriate for one reason or another. After all, what better tradition in the season of remembering our Savior’s birth, than to gather with family and friends? And how blessed we must be to have so many families to gather around!

First we were welcomed into the Smiths’ fresh new home. Not quite all the way moved in, the exquisite interior was still inviting and friendly as family and friends gathered around the tree. Elizabeth and Emory crashed almost right after our arrival, but I know they will know many fun trips to see their Great Aunt & Uncle!

For Christmas Eve morning we arrived on the Janvier’s doorstep bearing gifts of food as we prepared a breakfast complete with homemade cinnamon rolls. It was a big hit indeed, there are no photos of the freshly baked rolls because they were devoured so quickly!

The twins received their first set of teddy bears from Grandpa Janvier. We are still waiting on a reaction other than their immediate instinct which was to attempt to devour them. Speaking of devouring, after Christmas Eve service, we came home to the cinnamon roll glass baking dish on the floor (intact thankfully) after Romeo had somehow knocked it off the counter so he could “clean” the remaining sticky sugar residue off. Yum? Yuck? Both?

I guess Christmas Eve was fun for man and animal alike. While our Golden Retriever “dined,” we attended to Fair Oaks’s traditional evening service. The twins made their star power appearance in the nursery where they slept soundly. When my step dad was called out on a page at the end of the service, I was left holding two candles. I wasn’t quite sure what to do when the pastor encouraged us to hold them low and cover them… but when we held them high I  certainly had that covered! Double fisted candle man! (In other related news, I can confirm from first hand observational research that the common man still fails at understanding elementary physics and cannot comprehend the simple “hold lit candle upright, light unlit candle sideways” methodology!)

The penultimate gathering on Christmas morning consisted of just me, the misuses, and Emory and Elizabeth with their first Christmas morning. I know they won’t remember it, but I will not soon forget it. They sprawled on the floor while we got things ready and then snuggled with mommy to unwrap some goodies. Very fun indeed! We even had the fake “Yule Log Channel” on Netflix crackling away to the tune of Christmas carols.

And to top it all off, we made a customary traditional Christmas morning appearance at the VanHamersvelds, for fun, fellowship, food and of course presents. A traditional marathon of hours long gift opening. I posited that perhaps we take too long as someone always tries to “move things along” though my wife assured me that it was fine because “we savor the moment.” And she’s right.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!