Christmas Day

Well today was Christmas day. I got to bed around 2:30am this morning. Around 5am we heard Squeeks up. Of course it was the one day she decided to come out of her room. I found her standing, staring, pointing, and gasping at the sight of the presents under the tree. It was very hard to get her to go back to sleep and wait until morning but after 30min and a stern "No opening presents till you sleep some more" she finally went back to bed. I slept on the couch just in case she decided to come back out.

Around 8ish I heard Mo and Bubba up. I laid on the couch half asleep listening to Bubba wanting to wake us up and open presents. Mo insisted that there was no point in waking us up before she got the empty trash bag, Squeeks was up, and the camera was out and ready....This all took place just before 9am and we started opening presents. A month or so ago I sent out an e-mail practically begging people to stick to the lists we had made. I have been so sick of throwing away cheap toys and donating the ones they don't play with (cause they never really wanted them in the first place). So this year it was very exciting to sit and watch as the kids got many of the toys on their lists, some that while not on the list, were exactly what the kids would like as well. Each child got their #1 item: American Girl dolls for the girls and a skateboard for Bubba. We saved those presents for them to open last, then sat them all on the couch so that we could record them while they opened their gifts. After opening presents at home, a bit of cleaning & playing, we headed off to Mimi & Papaw's. We are an early dinner and then opened gifts. Once again receiving many gifts off the specified lists. Everyone loved each and every one of their gifts. This is the first Christmas that all gifts were liked and that no one received clothing that was too small. There are a couple clothing items too large but they will fit at some point so it isn't a big deal. What an awesome Christmas this was. We got great joy out of seeing our children receive the gifts they truly wanted and will enjoy.

This evening we went to a party at a friend's house. There was a poop disaster before we left so dad stayed home due to his frustration. When we returned he was still pretty down. Living away from Oregon is really getting to him. We have not been home for a vacation in almost three years. We are both really homesick and missing our true friends. You would think that after almost 5 years here that we would have built a good core group of friends but we just haven't. Friends have come and then faded away but none have proved to be true lasting "go through life with you" friendships. We long so much to be back with our group of friends in Oregon. Many things have changed in all our lives but regardless, those friends that we have there are like family to us and we know that our friendships would be the same if we were to return.