christmas 2009

Having three children who show genuine emotion without holding back makes Christmas morning pretty fun. Having all their dreams come true is pure magic.

A few highlights:

* All Cooper wanted for Christmas was a bouncy ball with a handle on top (his words). Santa delivered and he was one happy kid. He also received a soccer net and has had his dad playing goalie while he gets around him.

note: my living room previously held a trampoline that has been relocated temporarily to the loft. it now holds a rowdy game of soccer. is this what living rooms were intended for??

* Seneca received a shopping cart and a scooter. Beckham got a new car to ride in and an enormous tonka dump truck. As is par for this house, they use each other's gifts as their own and scheme together to make the most of each item.

* We all got to talk to uncle Ben on Christmas day, singing him our latest songs and telling him about our Christmas. He is having an amazing experience serving the Lord in Portland. It was wonderful to hear that while he's growing and learning, he's still our Boogs.

* Denten made gnocchi and pasta sauce and the smell alone in my house was to die for, let alone the food. He makes magic in the kitchen, I love when he has the chance to cook.

* Santa was good to Dent and I too. It's a satisfying feeling to know that there isn't much that is wanted or needed, makes me feel very fortunate to be where I am right now.

* most treasured gift of the year: quilts that Gram made for each of my children. They love them and have requested they take the place of the previous blankets on their beds. It was a surprise for me that she had spent all year quilting for everyone, what a wonderful gift!

* We have wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that sent such thoughtful things for our family. It is so nice to see them unwrap gifts that will add to our home and that they will truly enjoy rather than more junky toys that I will secretly want to put in the garbage as soon as possible. It was a good year!



Hope yours was just as merry!

yes, dad. beckham's cars are all Porches. we're teaching him young to recognize quality.

I remember.

I remember that when I was sixteen, Christmas was different. Rather than an abundance of presents waiting for us on Christmas morning, my parents took the opportunity to create a window for my sisters and I. We left our comfortable home to visit the Philippines where my grandparents were serving in the church. Instead of buying for each other, we purchased things to take to children there who would not be having Christmas.

It may sound a bit dramatic to say that this particular experience changed me, especially at age sixteen, but it's honest and fair to say that it left a lasting impression. There are pictures, snapshots in my mind that are as vivid today as they were 20 years ago.

I remember the mall. It was huge and had American music playing. I was grasping for familiar and pop music coming through the speakers did the trick. I remember the singing cooks and waiters restaurant. I loved it so much my grandpa bought the CD for me. I remember playing it a lot after we got home.

I remember visiting an area where rows of shacks were lined up near a dirty water source. I remember walking through some of these "homes" and trying so hard to have it register that this is where people lived. Dirt floors, scrap lumber propped up and old sheets hung to serve as walls. There was no electricity or plumbing. I remember wishing we had more to give them.

I remember wearing my long crinkly skirt. It was very cool at the time, with my blue ribbed short-sleeved sweater and new sandals. I remember frizzy humidity-hair. I remember mom not feeling well. I remember grandma showing us how she washed all of her produce in bleach.

I remember smokey mountain. It was an enormous local dump. I remember breathing through my mouth into my shirt because the smell was that of rotten fruit magnified a million times. As we drove through, there were children outside my van window digging through mountains of garbage for something to eat or something worth selling. I remember how dirty they were and yet when I looked into their eyes, how human they were. They swarmed around the van trying to get a piece of candy. I remember it being dangerous to drive, there were so many people around our vehicle. I could not grasp that this is how these families lived, digging for food in the garbage that others had discarded.

I remember feeling carsick when travelling in the church van because of the smells the permeated the city.

I remember standing on the balcony of grandma and grandpa's flat in Manila on new year's eve looking over the smokey city, listening to cracks of either fireworks or gun fire, I don't know which. I remember playing Christmas carols around the piano and singing with dark-faced visitors listening.

I remember the following year, looking at our Christmas tree, piled high with presents and having conflict inside me as I was anxious to see what was inside each package with my name on it and ashamed that there was so much there when remembering how little some had.

I can not say that that particular vacation was incredibly fun or relaxing or what I typically think of when using the term "vacation," and most of the things I remember are accompanied with varying levels of discomfort. I can say that I'm grateful for the window this experience created for me, one to view the world through. A window that allowed me to see that not everyone lived like me, not everyone was as blessed as I was. I'm grateful that while I slip into mild entitlement now and then that I still have that window.

I hope to somehow create a similar window for my children, one through which they can see that not everyone is like them, one that will allow love and gratitude to seep into their hearts for people that look different and posses different things. I'm positive that that window is one of the greatest gifts my parents have ever given me.

the Man in the Red Suit.

Last weekend my littles had the grand (or torturous) opportunity to meet Santa.

Cooper is over the fear and appreciates what the Man has to offer. He was excited and a little shy when his turn came. He was careful to whisper (at a distance) what he wanted for Christmas. Good thing his mother was present as that particular request had not yet been fulfilled. it has now.



Seneca is not shy. She does not, however, understand the significance of the Big Guy. She was happy to chat with him and pose for a photo. She does not know how to answer the question, "what do you want for Christmas?" I believe it's because she really doesn't care. She's just happy to be a part of it all. If only that could last forever.



Beckham, however, could be called wary. His little lip was on the verge of quivering and his eyes were very large. Skepticism at its highest. I kept telling him that it was ok and this was fun... he thought I was crazy, but it staved off the tears long enough for a photo.





We have a Christmas elf visiting our home for the month. He leaves a little surprise in our advent calendar each day and returns each night to report to Santa what he sees around here. Each morning when he comes back, he's in a different spot in our house. Sometimes he's great motivation for being on our best behavior! I pretty much love Santa to pieces. I believe Beckham will feel the same come Dec. 25.

a christmas tree story.

When I was growing up, a Christmas Tree was serious business. My mother was most adamantly against fake trees, thus we made our way as a family to a nearby commercial lot and picked a suitable tree for our living room. Achieving the desirable height was imperative, it needed to be free of any major holes, or at least have a very good "good" side. Dad sawed off the bottom, wrestled it into its stand and then we all looked on while he tried to get it straight. Once it was up and in place, his duties were complete.

It was then that mom took over. She was (and I believe still is) in charge of the lights. When I say serious business, I mean it. I'm not sure anyone was as meticulous as my mother when it came to getting lights on the tree. They were always white, much classier than those colored ones. She started at the top and made her way around, through and down the branches making sure the lights were evenly spaced and in their perfect places. I used to wonder if it took her hours to do this as we would arrive home from school and she'd just be finishing.

Once the lights were in place, we were allowed to assist with the ornaments. We never had a themed tree. We had a fantastic collection of ornaments, each possessing a wonderful memory that we relived each year as we hung them. They were unique and beautiful we loved pulling them out of the boxes finding our favorites. In true tree-decorating fashion, mom taught us that the smaller ornaments always hung near the top of the tree and the large ones near the bottom. Those of the same color never resided next to each other and we hid her least favorite ones around the side of the tree.

Our tree always looked fabulous. White lights made our whole living room glow. It was only natural that when I had a tree of my own that white lights and unique ornaments were the direction I steered. I have the inner urge now and then to go a more contemporary route and swallowed my jealousy when Katelyn got a very cool tree, but Denten is a traditional fellow and this time of year, tradition is not so bad. I must say that even with a few years of practice under my belt, my light job is nothing near my mothers. In fact, Denten volunteered to do it this year knowing that I wanted to do it but was stressing out about getting it just right. I was happy to hand off the job to him. However, attorney-work has been all-consuming lately and after a few days of a naked tree in our living room, Cooper demanded lights. He was a lovely assistant and I got the the job done.

And then rather than evenly spacing precious decoration around green branches, I sat down. I opened boxes and handed ornaments to my three little ones. They, and they alone, adorned our tree. The top half is very sparse, the bottom heavy laden with glass balls and ornaments. It made me fight against all that is natural in my soul to go rearrange them, putting the small ones at the top, highlighting my favorites front and center and making sure they were spaced well. I took deep breaths and did my best to relinquish my Christmas Control.




Seneca rearranges the display daily. Her favorites are my collection of handbags. Beckham explores the different textures of the ornaments and likes to see himself in the shiny ones. The large cluster of glass balls? That is Beckham's masterpiece. Cooper plays the part of the sheriff, making sure no one touches the tree... sometimes they listen to him and most of the time, not. He's old enough to remember favorites from last year and get excited to tell me where they came from.

The final product is all theirs. Except that they used my treasures to create it. I requested that Cooper put my New York ornaments up higher as one was shattered last year and nearly broke my heart.



It's not a traditional masterpiece, but it's Ours, created by Mine and the little white lights still make my living room glow.

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas!



Grandma Tam, thanks for our new jammies!



A few highlights...












Christmas at our house was fairly low-key and pretty wonderful, except for one little thing... during Grandma and Grandpa's visit, Grandma decided to get sick Sunday and quarentined herself to her bedroom for the next two days until we had to pack her up and send her home. That was a bummer, but we were so glad to have grandpa and Uncle Drew here to hang out with. We had lots of yummy food and lots of down time and I think I've finally gotten over the homesickness that comes with knowing all my family is together somewhere else as well as getting used to a quiet house again. I don't know if it's the holidays or the beginning of a new year, but I seem to get pretty reflective this time of year and am anxious for new beginnings.

We had a little family home evening Christmas Eve with Denten introducing a new tradition where we each had the opportunity to reflect on the past year and share an experience or scripture that demonstrates how we have seen the Savior's hand in our lives. Looking over the last year, it was hard to settle on just one, but between Coop's drama, it was a nice addition to Christmas.

After a hesitant start to Christmas morning, the magic kicked in and it was pretty fun to watch my children enjoy both the giving and the receiving of the day. We were very blessed and I am grateful to have had this week to spend with my little family. Mostly I'm grateful to have had Denten around more than usual this week, and the kids have been too! Hope your was terrific as well!