Christmas 2010

We have had a wonderful Christmas. And, it wasn’t really in the big “shiny” moments that I treasured the holiday. It was in the small ones.

It was in the times when I sat and listened to Kendyll tell Abby Kate about Christmas when she was three. Or, when I looked over to see Carlie hugging her grandparents just because she wanted to cuddle. Or, seeing the JOY in Abby Kate’s eyes as she snuck through the store with her sister’s secret Christmas present: the tiny dolls they had found, but never expected their three year old sister to buy for them. Or listening to the girls say the Christmas story from Luke, their memory work from December.

It was when “My Jesus I Love Thee” came on the radio, and brought tears to my eyes in a way it never had before, even though it’s always been one of my favorite songs ever written. I had never thought about it in the context of Christmas…My Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine…My Gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou. If ever I loved thee, my Jesus ‘tis now.

Christmas morning was such a sweet one for us, too.

It was around 6:30 when Kendyll came in and woke us up. “Abby Kate is burning up, Mommy, and she had a nightmare!” Both of us stumble out of bed, after only a few hours of sleep, and head upstairs to see what “burning up” means to Kendyll. She was right. Abby Kate had a very high fever and was laying in her floor.

While Mark went to get her Motrin, I laid down with her, and her big sisters joined me. For twenty minutes or so, our whole family laid in the floor laughing and talking and stroking Abby Kate’s hair.

This may sound strange, but I just savored the sweetness of my girls. They weren’t scrambling downstairs to see what Santa brought, although I'm sure it was on their minds! They weren’t begging to get started on opening gifts, although I’m sure they had counted them a few times already.

They were just content to lay and snuggle and laugh with their baby sister, while we waited for her medicine to kick in so she could enjoy some Christmas fun.

I love this picture...even Annie checked on Abby Kate, as she always does when one of the kids is sick.

As we headed downstairs a few minutes later, I waited for the questions.

This year, Santa surprised these girls with a scavenger hunt for their gift. So, the only thing “on display” when they walked in the living room was this:

A bowl of popcorn and four root beers.

I thought for sure we would hear “That’s all?"

But, do you know what they did? They first made sure Santa ate his cookies and the reindeer ate their carrots, and were so excited to see that everything was sufficiently consumed.

Then, they just sat and ate the popcorn.

Mark and I were both thinking “Um…what? They thought they got popcorn from Santa and they’re OKAY with that?”

This was a lesson for me, I tell you. They were totally content with a stocking full of little things (those were also laying next to the bowl) and some popcorn. We Americans over-give to our kids so much. And, I realized it once again in that moment.

I drew their attention to the rolled up paper, tied on to the popcorn bowl, and then the fun began!

They hunted for clue after clue, and began to try and solve the mystery. Their first clue was popcorn and root beer, the next was laptrays hidden in the backyard,

followed by new classic movies, and then headphones.

Their last clue told them to go to the front yard, and they would find their big gift.

After looking all over the yard (it was freezing!!), I said “Oh girls! Look at the car!” The inside of the van was covered in silver tinsel, and as they crawled inside, Carlie was the first to discover it: A DVD player in our van!!

After years of fighting the concept of technology in the car, I am actually very glad Santa decided to send us this surprise. He was smart to leave some guidelines for watching…including not watching it too much, and always choosing things that are good for our hearts and minds. And, he even gave them videos for Math and Nature Studies for school! :)

But, let me tell you, that the next couple of days were quite amazing trips in the car. I’ve never experienced a quieter ride in my life. And, Mark and I would arrive at our destination in GOOD moods, having had real conversation all the way there! It was GREAT. And, if you have ever ridden in the Jacobs car, and experienced the loud volume of these three sillies, you understand how heavenly this really was. :)

So, I have to admit it: I’m liking it.

Now, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be limits on this little sucker. But, it has been one of the girls’ favorite presents ever. And, to think. They would have been thrilled to have some Jiffy Pop. Good to know.

Another one of my favorite moments every year is watching the girls open the present that their sister buys them. This is a BIG deal, and they get so excited to be “the giver”. They each picked out the perfect things for their sisters this year, and many, many squeals and hugs were given.

This Mommy heart loves to watch the love. It’s my favorite moment and another great time when we slow down to celebrate each other.

Celebrating was fun all week long, actually. Such sweet gifts were given, including thoughtful donations to His Chase and other charities on our behalf. My mom gave me a new windchime for Chase's Corner with his life verse engraved. Aunt Carol made His Chase shirts for the whole family! And, Katers got her special baby quilt from Aunt Carol too.

My grandparents gave Kendyll a jewelry box of Lil' Mama's and she truly treasures it so much. Lil' Mama is so special to all of us, so this meant so much to my big girl.

And, we got the coolest new collectible ornaments from Aunt Jodi. It will be great to see the collection grow over the years.

Then, of course, there were many fun gifts they were excited to see...fun arts and crafts, which is a constant source of entertainment in our house. A bow and arrow for Kendyll (so she can really be Susan from Narnia).

Christmas PJ's for the cousins...

Pillow pets! (That have been used every single day since Christmas!).

Hilarious singing dolls from Uncle Chris. (one of my favorite pictures--and gifts--this year!)

And, special traditions were continued the whole week of Christmas.

Chocolate fountain night with Grandma and Pops…with Japanese hibachi for dinner!

Look at these amazed faces at our awesome chef...

And, the faces of amazement continued when Popsy decided to dip a banana pepper in the chocolate this year. Silly Popsy.

The rest of us dipped yummier things, like marshmallows and bananas and cookies...and fingers. Yum.

We had a fun day of eating and visiting and of course, searching, with our wrapping paper scavenger hunt at Grandad and Grankays…SO many fun treasures and they love searching for their paper under the tree! It was the talk for hours before we got there, as they guessed what their paper would be this year. :)

And Christmas Eve morning at Gammy and Papa Ron's, after an evening of s'mores and a caroling hayride to see the lights in Mineola.

And, it's even cuter when cousins match on Christmas. Fun shirts from Aunt Cassie for the whole cousin gang were one of MY favorite gifts! :)

With time off from work and school, we were also able to do some things we don’t always have time to do with our aunts and uncles! We had "trade days", where the cousins spent the night at each other's houses while the grown-ups got shopping done. It was fun for all!

We also went to ICE together to see some Charlie Brown fun.

It is always an adventure with the big gang, and I LOVE seeing the cousin-love they all share.

We also got to take a trip to the symphony with our big girls and Uncle Chris, and Pops and Grandma!

It was one of my favorite Christmas activities this year, and it was an amazing performance! It was also very fun to hear the girls identify the instruments they have been learning about this semester. Even Abby Kate said “I see the violin Mommy. And, there’s the fute (flute)!”

Since I am actually finishing this post a month after Christmas, I've probably forgotten some things. That's what happens when you leave two days after Christmas for a two-week trip to Africa. Some things get lost in the shuffle. :)

But, it was a wonderful holiday, as it always is with our sweet family. We look forward with great anticipation to 2011, and all the adventures that await us. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness and lavish blessings of 2010. We are changed forever because of this year...