Closing the Chapter

I failed to mention that I received two incredible Christmas gifts. The first gift was the one that made me squeal with delight and disbelief. My husband surprised me with tickets to see Alabama play at the Sugar Bowl this week!

I know there are many women who would think this is a self-serving husband gift, but in my case it was TRULY appreciated. (My hubby is actually a Georgia fan.) And if a couple of days away with the man I love was not wonderful enough, two of very best friends from college will also be there with their husbands. I cannot wait!

The gift that made me cry was from my in-laws. A 400 page hardcover book of my blog courtesy of my father-in-law. I cannot tell you how time consuming it is to deal with the volume of posts and pictures I have. The last 3 1/2 years are captured in thousands of pages. Even with all of the companies and software, converting to book is still a largely manual process. I priced the project out several months ago and a designer wanted to charge me $4000 to do it. I have had it lingering on my To Do list for years. To have someone preserve these memories for me was truly a thoughtful, priceless gift! My guilt over the fact that I have never scrapbooked (traditionally) a single page for my children is alleviated by seeing something in print that I can place on a shelf and one day hand over to them.

With that goal in mind, I feel the need to post a few more Christmas memories before I close this chapter and move on to New Year's celebrations.

A couple of days before Christmas we took the children on their first horse and carriage ride. They liked the ride and waved at all the passersby as if they were on a parade float...when they were not holding their noses from the smell.

P, holding his favorite Christmas gift. No, not the dinosaur taht dominated my waking thoughts weeks ago...but the 'wo-bot.'R, with Nana, wearing his football uniform. Doesn't he look intimidating? No tackling the great-grandmother, son. He really loves that helmet. Yesterday I caught him riding his bike wearing it rather than his traditional bicycle helmet.

K wearing one of the FOUR outfits she wore Christmas day. We have avoided the fashionista phase for the last 4.5 years...but I think it is coming. For the last couple of days she has paid close attention to my outfits--complimenting shirts, necklaces--even asking if my shoes were new!

And here is our cousin, Scott, sacked out after his very early morning drive to make it here before the children woke up Christmas morning. It was a grand Christmas. My hubby returns to work tomorrow. The ham is almost gone. The toys all have new homes. The garbage has been collected and this week the decorations will be put away...but I pray the reminders God gave me this year of the truth of "God with us" will not be seasonal. I pray it will set up residence in my soul and I may enjoy the peace, joy and awe it brings year round.