It’s officially begun – our 12 days of Christmas. Well, not actually 12 days, but for us, it is actually going to be 6 days of Christmas. It started last night with just Preston and I – our impromptu Christmas of two (the last one – how crazy is that?!). Today we’re with Preston’s family, tomorrow his extended family, the 25th and 26th with my family, and the 27th with my dad’s extended family. I’m tired just thinking about it. But I seriously love it.
A quick note for my clients – the office is officially closed from December 23 through January 2. You can still call or email, but you may or may not get any kind of response before January 2 since I am already out of town. Just a head’s up….
So as you can see from the photo above, my in-laws love to go all out for Christmas. That’s not even half the tree or half the presents. I’m not kidding. It’s like Christmas central here.
But I love the atmosphere. I love that with the Shepard family, things are relaxed, laid back, and just plain cozy. The kind of time that makes you want to put on comfy socks (a theme with me if you haven’t noticed….) and drink hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows. Lots of marshmallows. I love the family-ness everywhere too. I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it when I tell people that I won the in-law lotto, if you can call it that, with Preston’s family. They’re awesome, loving, fun, and they know how to tease. I love teasing. I love being able to tease back. I love that that family is so big to them too. It’s fun to just look at the ornaments that all have personal memories attached and see the fruit of all that love and labor they put into their kids and family.
That’s a picture of my husband and his younger brother, Daniel (the one on the left), when they were kids. Adorable huh? I have the feeling that neither will appreciate terribly that I’m posting this, but it’s Christmas and I’m 9 months pregnant. What can they do? Hee hee…
This time of year always makes me think about so many things, but maybe even more than Thanksgiving, this is usually when I feel extra grateful about things in my life. Family being one of the big ones. This year, probably related to my current state of being “great with child”, I feel particular aware of what things must have been like for Mary 2000 years ago and the fear that goes with all that. It also makes me think about Joseph in a new way too when I look into my husband’s eyes. Clearly, the circumstances are different (no, this is not an immaculate conception, my child is not the Son of God, and yes, he is my husband’s son – believe me that’s already obvious…), but it does make you think a little bit. I can imagine that Mary was so grateful for Joseph during that time – for his help, his willingness to be security and strength for her even when it wasn’t his child, his support and presence… I know that I’m overwhelmed sometimes when I start to think about the things I’m grateful to Preston for. He’s amazing. Plain and simple. AND he made one heck of a cute kid. Check out this one I snuck a picture of…. hee hee…
I hope you have someone nearby to squeeze a little closer this season (pets count, btw). Merry Christmas from us to you! I hope this one is special for you too.
::b::
by brienne2
show hide 1 comment
link to this post email a friend