First of all, I must say that I love Christmas! This Christmas was a lot of fun but there were a few things that were quite weird. Here is a quick list of things that made Christmas Christmas this year.
Good stuff:
1. Elf never gets old... so I watched it again this morning while making the mash potatoes.
2. Christmas eve was super fun with my grandma, dad, sister, and mom... YES we all spend Christmas eve together still, but not for long once my dad gets married haha.
3. My mom loved her present and cried over every present I bought. Christina and I made her a photo book on iphoto of all our adventures together. She cried for ten minutes straight... she LOVED it. Then she opened the world vision present I got her and cried even more because of her new dream to work in a different country and train women to do something with their life... with skills (I just learned this the other day!). She also cried over a frame I made her with pennies (that I painted hearts on). She was so grateful, It was awesome.
-> the funny part about my Mom crying over the gifts I got her was that my sister got her like clothes and things that were normal... so she thought I was trying to suck up to her, but it was great.
4. My Dad LOVEDDDD the gifts we got him... Man I just love it when we can return the favor to our parents. Its the best feeling in the world.
5. I had eggs with my sister and dad this morning and my favorite part about it is that we prayed and ate silently for a good two minutes without talking. I loved the silence, shows the peacefulness of resting in love and prayer.
6. To back track to last night... we went to the Church my Dad goes to (Crosswinds) and sat infront of Christina Burke's family during the service. I loved having a best friend there :) It was such a good service and all teh singers almost had my Dad and I in tears of how beautiful the song was and how the spirit was moving.
The not so good stuff:
1. We always go to my Aunt Rosies for dinner, along with her husbands side of the family. First off my Mom has nine brothers and sisters and like a TRILLION cousins... so that will give you a rough look at how huge my family is. And when there is a huge family that means there is bound to be not only one black sheep, but many.
Aunt Donna: Wonderful Woman who loves God. She bought me a goat for Christmas! I loved it.
Uncle Harry: Good guy too...
Mary (Cousin and daughter of Donna and Harry): Went to Brown University out of High School and graduated with a bachelors in Biology and is now working for a non-profit in Chicago and is married to the wonderful James. They swing dance, WHICH is amazingggg!
Frank: 31ish years old. Lost soul, is depressed, is not grateful for anything, and acts like a 7 year old. The first question he always asks me is "have you been a good girl?" in a creepy voice.
Aunt Rosie: My godmother who is catholic and is loaded.
Uncle Paul: Selfish and puts everyone down. KILLS the Christmas spirit and makes it hard to love, seriously. First thing he said when we walked in was "Did you gain the freshmen 15?" When he is way over weight.
Shannon (cousin): loves all designer clothes and doesn't know what its like to not live in luxury.
Luke (cousin): apparently he is not being a good boy.
and many others were involved in this Christmas day outings.
I love Christmas and I love Christmas Cheer. But I did discover today that it makes it quite hard when Uncle Paul is putting down EVERYONE, when the TV is on full blast, when people are gossiping about other family members, and when love is not all around. Despite all these things I still love my family. But I will admit it makes it very hard to love selfish people.
There were some good moments though.
I sat by the fire and talked about life with Mary and James. I ate delicious desert despite my horrible heart burn. I talked about interesting books with my Aunt Donna. And yup haha.
Favorite funny moment of Christmas dinner: We all stand around the table and hold hands to pray. First of all since its at my Aunt Rosie's house (who is apparently catholic), we say the the catholic prayer for blessing our food. My Aunt Rosie, who doesn't go to church often, starts off by saying, "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallow be thy name... thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." Haha and than once the prayer was over they realized they recited the wrong prayer. I loved it, so funny.
This post wasn't to put a damper on my extended family, mainly just one part of them, but to show how weird a family can be. I still love Christmas and Christmas is still all about Jesus. Amen!
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