Family Christmas

I went out of town this afternoon to celebrate Christmas with part of my family.  It was so nice to see everyone again.  I feel especially blessed that, even after my mother died, my step family is still my family.

Little Allison was so excited to have everyone there and she sure wanted to pass out (and open) the presents.  She was crawling under the tree to retrieve presents (at her grandfather’s urging) and then just bouncing over to hand them to the intended recipient.  I can’t remember if I’ve ever had that much energy!  When Larry asked her who should open their presents first, she replied, “me”…well, yeah pappy…what little 3-year-old doesn’t want to get down to the business of opening her gifts?

And Bradley, oh my, just smiling at everyone.  What a pleasant little boy.  Okay, I’m going to be honest here, I think Mommy and Daddy might take an exception to that last remark.  Poor Brian and Sarah were exhausted because little Bradley just couldn’t sleep last night…poor little guy…and poor Mommy and Daddy too.  Get some rest, you two!

And it was so good to have the chance to chat with Lori again.   It’s so hard to believe that only a few years ago, she was Allison’s age.  She’s a wonderful aunt to Allison and Bradley…seeing her with them brings back a lot of memories of my time with her and Brian when they were little kids.  What good times those were.

My step dad came over and sat down beside me and handed me an envelope.  Took me by surprise.  Then he said he didn’t know how many pictures of my mom I have, but he wanted me to have these.  Wow!  I got more than a little teary eyed when I was looking at those pictures.  I thought that was just the nicest thing he could have done for me.  And we ended up talking for quite a while, it was just really, really nice.

I got to visit with my step brother, hadn’t seen him in several years.  He’s the same funny guy he’s always been.  It was good to see his grandkids, some of whom I’d never met. 

And my step sister, Kathy and her husband, Larry…what wonderful people.  I keep up with all of the family news via Kathy.  I never had a sister, but Kathy is pretty darn close!  I feel very fortunate to be a part of this family.  Spending time with family at Christmas is priceless.