I slept soundly and only awoke when I heard Greg rustling around next to me. He's just like the kids. I tried to roll over and doze off again, but soon Julia was sent as the messenger, telling me that everyone upstairs was awake. I hate to wake a sleeping child, but they all outvoted me and made me go in to get Lance. He was as cute as he could be.
The family room was all aglow. Santa had definitely come to our house, delivering goodies and gifts galore. We were so spoiled. Both sets of grandparents outdid themselves this year! And when you add in our Santa gifts, a few things from Greg and me, and the homemade gift exchange, we were feeling so blessed with gifts. Christmas for eight people equals a room full of stuff.
I want to make special mention of our homemade gift exchange because it is so special to me. Greg built Miles a beautiful hanging bookshelf for his room. It is handmade out of cherry wood, and it is so nice. I made Austin a plate with his name on it, and I also cut the tassled edges of a soft BYU blanket. Emma made Owen an amazing tool bench for his tools. It is so cute! Julia made Emma the coolest game called a Bimini Ring Toss. Emma had loved playing it in Park City. This is a beautiful smaller version. Miles made me a gorgeous cutting board/butcher block. And he redid my whole, messy cookbook. I cried when I saw it all. Austin made a book for Lance. It is full of pictures of Mario and Lance. It is so adorable, and Lance has looked through it over and over. Owen made Julia some really cute, homemade bookmarks, and we included a book series that Julia has been dying to own. And Lance (with a little help) sent off one of the amazing pictures Greg took at Lake Powell to a company that turned it into a huge jigsaw puzzle. The joy everyone felt at giving their gifts was worth all the gold in China to me. As a mother, I love to see my kids learning to love one another. I stay up at night, hoping they are learning to be kind, and unselfish, and giving. Greg has worked his fingers to the bone trying to help with these gifts. I am forever grateful for the way he thinks grand thoughts, plans big, and takes on bold projects. Greg has never shied away from hard work. I am usually looking for the most efficient or the easiest way around a problem. Greg is always willing to worry about the minute details and to accomplish the most tedious of tasks to produce and amazing end result. I am hoping in my heart, that the kids are learning from him. But if nothing else, those kids sat out in the workshop with their dad for hours. And that is priceless enough.
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| Lance and Mario - from Austin |
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| Greg gave Austin this massive Lego car. He planned to build it with him over a few days, just like he had done with Miles a few years ago. But Austin said, "Dad, can I please try it on my own?" And our little Lego Master has done a mighty fine job building this complicated car all alone. |
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| Emma made Owen this toolbench! |
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| I loved making gifts for Austin! |
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| Legos EVERYWHERE!! |
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| Miles with his shelf from Dad. |
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| Miles gave me some precious gifts! |
We cooked a breakfast to feed an army, and then our army ate it all! We had sausage and bacon and Texas Toast French toast. We had strawberries and orange juice, and yummy ham and cheese eggs. Everyone ate up, hungry since it was nearing lunch time!
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| Austin, using his new plate! |
We warmed up our leftover Chinese food, and everyone sort of ate on the run. It was casual and cozy. I loved the feeling that we were snug in our house. For a moment, there was nothing beyond our doors. And all we needed was each other. I spent a good part of the evening curled up with my book, These is My Words. Greg laughed at me, "How many times have you read that?"
"Three," I muttered, so engrossed in the part where Moses Smith attacks Sarah when she is home alone with her baby. She is fighting like a wildcat, when like a madman, Captain Elliot charges in the door, rips that man off of her, fights to the death, and saves Sarah. Life was going on around me, but I was lost in my book!
I did spend over an hour of my time trying to rock and sing and coax Lance to sleep. He just wiggles and squirms and gives it all he's got to stay awake. Finally, his breathing slowed. And he gave up the fight. I tiptoed out. Greg and the kids had been happily building Legos for hours. But Greg had taken the other little boys upstairs. He read them a story and tucked them in. I gratefully just settled onto my bed and kept on reading. Greg and the older kids worked on our massive Lego village a while longer before he came to bed.
I was gloriously happy. It has been ages since I spent hours reading! Ages! We talked and marveled at our beautiful Christmas day. I decided it must have been one of our best ones yet. Before long, Greg was softly snoring beside me. And I was turning pages in the lamplight.
It is surely a wonder to be the mother to six little ones. They are all so different and full of different interests. They add spice and variety to my life. They fill me with joy and frustration and happiness, all in a single moment. But at the end of the day, each one is a precious soul to me. And having them all tucked safely under our roof is a comfort beyond words. This will not be the case forever. And I have a sort of ticking in my head when I think of how grown up Emma is becoming. Someday she will fly from the nest. And it will most likely break all of our hearts. But that is the way of things.
So, for now, I am enjoying the way we all spooned generous amounts of Mom's famous homemade caramel into our mouths all day long, and the way Greg and the kids insist on torturing me with their gazillion Legos everywhere, and the way Lance cuddled on my lap for some downtime today, and the way Miles proudly wore his new robe the whole day--because he was so happy to have one, and the way Julia and I belted out songs on Owen's new Karaoke machine, properly annoying EVERYONE except ourselves, and the way Emma and I schemed up ideas for her Cricut, and the way I sat by the fire, reading my book, and knowing that in this house are my greatest treasures.
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