CHRISTMAS GREETINGS!

Christmas Greetings! This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! We have had a wonderful past 24 hours ... maybe it was the best Christmas yet. We all gathered at the church a little after 5:00 p.m. yesterday.The service didn't start until 5:30 but the church was nearly full. Rachel and Ethan had been there since a little after 4:30. She said that they thought there would be more traffic than there was, so they allowed for that when they left Rowlett where they live. Franklin and Beth arrived right after we did so we were able to sit together. It's difficult to save seats at a service such as this, so it was decided that we would all be on our own and hopefully be together and as luck would have it, it worked out!
It was a beautiful family service. All of our church family for many years past were there with their entire families ... children, grandchildren .. it was wonderful to see so many familiar happy faces gathered in God's house on this very Holy night. All the children were dressed to the nines. I love to see the little girls in their Christmas frocks. They were adorable and of course the young men looked so handsome in their good Christmas clothes. The children's choir provided some of the music and the bell choir also played. As usual, after the Eucharist, they lowered the lights in the church and we sang Silent Night by candlelight. I always cry when this happens and always have. It is very moving and really touches my heart. Fortunately, Rachel had an extra tissue for me. You'd think after all these years I'd remember to bring a handkerchief.
Nicholas had to work, so he and Dayna didn't join the rest of us at the service but managed to arrive at the house the same time we did.
When we arrived home, we changed into something more comfortable. The girls always look cute no matter what they have on.Rachel said that she couldn't stand being in heels any longer and I don't blame her. No sense in being all dressed up when you don't have to be. That's the joy of Christmas at home .... comfy clothes!The big kids brought their gifts into the house that they had for other family members and Nicholas was our bartender with some help from "Mrs. Claus". Dayna looked so cute in her Santa hat and Nick always looks cute, especially as an Elf!We all had a cup or two of Christmas cheer and then we had our tree. The boys were ready to get started! Ian was the Christmas Elf this year and got to hand out the presents and wear Uncle Nick's Jester hat. We always try to open the gifts one by one so everyone can see what the other person got. As I've said before, we draw names among the adults so we each usually have only one gift to open at our house. I broke the rule and got some "Kinky" T-shirts for Papa as an added attraction so he would look cute when we exercise at the hospital fitness center. They should be good topics for conversation!We had several surprise gifts this year. I'll start with what was done for the boys.
Uncle Nick always does something special, so he had 3 large gift wrapped boxes for them. They were the next to last thing they opened. The boxes had been sealed with electric tape so they were very hard to open. Ethan, our great grandson, really got into this but finally had to get help with a Swiss Army knife.Once they finally got them open, there was a clue in each box and they had to figure out the riddle to find their gift. Nick had hidden money for each one of them all over the house. It was a great game and such a clever way to keep them busy. They always LOVE to get money!
The little ones each gave us a wish list, so we decided to get them 3 things on their list this year. All of the boys wanted Rip Sticks, so that was their big gift from us. Connor is the youngest, so he wanted a skateboard instead which was really a pretty good idea as Rip Sticks are very difficult to ride. They only have 2 small wheels, one in front and one in back, so you have to have a very good sense of balance. It's like snowboarding on cement and is quite a challenge until you get the hang of it. We kept these hidden in the trunk of the car for nearly a month. They are really big and would have been difficult to wrap, so I took photographs of the Rip Sticks and Skateboard, cut the photos out and put each photo in an envelope.

I then put the envelope in a gift-wrapped box. Once I did that, I put all four boxes into one large box and put their photographs on the outside of the box. (Tyler, Rachel's step-son was not able to be here so we saved his gifts for him). We made them wait to open the big box last, so up to that point, they were a little disappointed with their gifts, but were nice enough not to let it show too much.

After all the other gifts had been distributed, Boompa said it was time to open the big box. They were really surprised that there was only a picture of what they really wanted inside, but were more than excited when he took them into the garage and they got their gifts. It was great fun. There were also two big adult surprises. I managed to keep my mouth shut for once and really surprised Frank this year. No one knew about this so it was great fun for everyone. I drew his name and got him a lamp like the one that was in the movie, "A Christmas Story". It was announced this year that this is the #1 Christmas movie. It even surpassed "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart!He was completely surprised, and since we had just been to the stage play a couple of weeks ago and the boys had seen the movie AGAIN last week, everyone knew what it was when he opened the box. Now I have to figure out where to put it!

Dayna got a sequined stocking filled with goodies that matched her Santa hat. She always likes to be color-coordinated. We always give the big kids some sort of monetary gift each year and this year was no different. Frank usually comes up with a clever way to do this and this year was no exception. He got Aggie T-shirts for each of them and stuffed them full of $2 bills and rolled them up in a shape that looked like a tube.He even did this for the little guys, so they were happy with yet another money gift. I thought we were through with the gifts, but Frank said for me to wait a minute as he had one more thing for me. He drew my name in the family draw and gave me a Shiatsu massaging pillow for my back and neck which I had opened earlier so I wasn't expecting anything else.

He had written a poem and put it in an Aggie T-shirt for me. The poem said:
" A Toilet you profess
Would change your life at best
Well, I agree, you see
If "tinkling" is for thee
Then rejoice!
A Potty it will be."
He then brought in a garbage sack with a big bow and there was a Porta-Potty inside the sack for my studio. As some of you know, there is no plumbing in my studio, a very pricey oversight to fix, so I have to come into the house when I need the use of the "facility". This will be a very welcomed addition to my already wonderful studio where I spend a lot of time. It was a complete surprise and I am more than pleased! My family is so good about helping me keep things picked up. As each gift is opened, they put the trash in a sack, so the room is nice and uncluttered as soon as we finish opening the gifts. It makes life much easier.
We then enjoyed a New Mexico style enchilada dinner with Bananas Foster for dessert. After our meal, the whole family helped with the clean up and I got to celebrate time out. that's always one of the the best gifts I can imagine!Everyone stayed until nearly midnight, so that tells me that a good time was had by all. They decided when Boompa fell asleep on the couch that it was time to go home. I was sorry to see them leave but tomorrow morning will come way to soon I'm sure! I woke up this morning with a Cocktail Virus, but managed to get dressed in my new Aggie T-shirt and slacks and we went over to Frank and Beth's to see what the boys had gotten from Santa. Their big gift was a trampoline and Ian got a new amp for his guitars which he loves. He's scheduled to play at Gilligan's again on St. Patrick's Day.I'm sure that Franklin will spend the afternoon assembling the trampoline. It has a protective thing for the sides so that makes it much safer. Connor got a bass guitar and a new Ipod plus games for his Wii so he disappeared into his room and we didn't see him anymore. Franklin is helping Ian get things set up with his new amp so he can try it out. It will be a noisy household from now on. They also play piano and drums, so there's music all around! Maybe we should call their home Salazar's House of Music!

As you can see, they aren't able to keep things picked up as well with two active little boys around scrambling to see what was left under the tree last night. Looks like a room full of fun to me! I'm just thankful I don't have to clean it up! Harry found a new assortment of toys and chew sticks in his stocking. That made him very happy.We then joined them for Mimosa's and coffee cake, stayed about 2 hours and came home to take a nap.
This has been one of the best Christmases that I can remember. It's always good when the family is together enjoying each other.
I would like to wish each of you a Happy and Healthy New Year and a blessed 2008.
With love, Pcasso