Luke 1:49
"And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:10-11
This year I felt like almost everything was on track.
Because of the early snow, it took a while for me to be able to go visit the cemetary and change the seasonal decorations. It was precious to see the deer prints in the snow as they had passed by before I got there!
I was planning to wrap the Christmas presents earlier but it looked like I would get to it last minute like I usually do. But with the priceless help of two of my biggest kids we wrapped all of them 3 days before the dreaded time limit!
Because of the early snow, it took a while for me to be able to go visit the cemetary and change the seasonal decorations. It was precious to see the deer prints in the snow as they had passed by before I got there!
I was planning to wrap the Christmas presents earlier but it looked like I would get to it last minute like I usually do. But with the priceless help of two of my biggest kids we wrapped all of them 3 days before the dreaded time limit!
So, a week before Christmas, my 9 years old busted his lip open so bad that we decided we needed to make the trip to the ER.
This was a mistake and other than the peace of mind it gave us, it was a bad judgment on our part.
Anyway, his lip did heal totally and rapidly and he learned that pretending to be Spider-Man was not the best of ideas in the winter. (he tried to climb both opposite walls in the upstairs hallway but in the winter the walls are dryer plus the upstairs hallway is wider) He probably would have been just fine in the main floor hallway just like his older siblings were...
My oldest boy being Spider-man in 2008
On Christmas Eve, we get together at my in-laws place for a traditional meal and for years we have played a game where we each bring at least a small gift in order to play. For many years I’ve been dreading it because I simply have an aversion for spending on cheap stuff that we, most of the time don’t need. I tend to be a minimalist kind of spender. So instead of buying useless crap, I’ve tried thinking outside the box this year.
A few weeks before Christmas I donated to a gofundme for a cancer treatment for a student at my children’s High school. I wanted to give more but felt my budget was already stretched and knew I had to spend on the gifts for the game. So, I bought candy canes and gum and made a donation in honour of the person that would get the gift. Because kids are playing the game, I figured they would be pleased with gum and candy canes regardless of the donation.
We had a peaceful and fine evening at my in-laws.
By tradition, we open gifts on Christmas morning. The kids were happy and grateful which made me very happy too. Every year, their smiles as they open their presents are priceless.
For dinner, that same day we headed to my parents home where we almost got the whole traditional meal but the oven stopped working properly as it was cooking the meat pies that I had contributed with. That was disappointing but we had so much to eat that it felt very wrong to complain! The next morning, the oven broke down completely. My brother came to the rescue with a brilliant and unusual idea to keep the brunch food warm! I had to take a picture of this!
On the following day, Lane got sick and it slowed down the pace for the rest of Christmas break.
Then, four days later, Leilani was jumping on the couch and hurt her left wrist. The next day we went in for X-rays that revealed that nothing was broken. Praise God!
Then, four days later, Leilani was jumping on the couch and hurt her left wrist. The next day we went in for X-rays that revealed that nothing was broken. Praise God!
Finally, the kids were ecstatic when I proposed to bake gingerbread cookies on the last day of the holiday break!
I am not ready for Christmas to be over. I am not sure what happened this year. I feel like I was so preoccupied by my children’s health issues. I have yet to take down the tree... But I’ll get to it...
I’m glad I didn’t have a long to do list because going with the flow was the best way to go!
Thank you Lord for the food we had in abundance during the Holidays.
I think my parents were relieved when they found out the oven was an easy fix. A mishap that occurred on a busy day but that was not disastrous.
I’m grateful that on Christmas morning our hand crafted farmhouse kitchen table was ready! My husband did a fantastic job, I love it!
Praise God that the kids healed quickly and completely, and that He had an angel protecting Leilani as she recklessly jumped on the couch. I’m thankful for the available and competent health professionals we were able to consult.
I’m impressed and thankful for the options that Evan Bugatto's family found to try to heal him and give him a better quality of life and a stronger immune system.
If you want to know more and follow Evan’s story, here is the link to his gofundme and Instagram account: https://www.gofundme.com/ please-help-evan-bugatto? viewupdates=1&rcid=r01- 154742580167-91e81b7b6fb24bef& utm_source=internal&utm_ medium=email&utm_content=cta_ button&utm_campaign=upd_n
Instagram: @evanbugatto
Instagram: @evanbugatto