It was agreed upon that Cade and Lucy could wake us up at 8:43 a.m. Originally it was 8:37, but Maddy worked out a few extra minutes of blissful slumber. So when we got our lazy carcasses out of of our *new* bed (I neglected to mention that our new bed arrived on the 24th in the morning…. so along with getting ready for the festivities, we also moved Mia's bed to Cade's room, our bed to Mia's room and cleared out our room), we found the kids already playing with the card game, Spot It, that was in Cade's stocking.
So, lets see if I can remember the contents of their stockings….
Lucy: a whole whack of brightly coloured socks, a headband, swim goggles, lip balm
Cade: Spot It, a grow your own bouncy ball thingy, a gyro light thingy, Hot Tamales, lip balm and swim goggles
Mia: Dumbo t-shirt, a scarf, lip balm, goggles, and a hairbrush
Maddy: lip gloss, hairbrush, tea, a reusable Starbucks mug, and a lovely Canadian flag bikini top which she will never wear but I HAD to buy for her!
The kids opened their combined gift from Santa:
It was a Wii! That is twice that Santa has given them a Wii (this year it was second hand - smart Santa). We sold our other one when we left Ecuador but kept most of the games. They have been sitting there waiting to be played.
From us Lucy received a watch, paints, paint brushes and a very large canvas.
Cade got Snap Circuits, which he didn't seem to sure about at first - probably because he had never heard of them. But once he got going, he loved it. He has already played with it a lot.
Cade and Lucy also got thrift-store purchased GT Racers, for going down the snow hills (the big blue things in the background).
Mia received about a million (or maybe more like 30) gel pens and a cool design colouring book. And under that was a note saying that she was also getting a trip with mom to see Auntie Rachel and Tatum in Florida in January!!
And Maddy got one of the last things she expected - a laptop.
Both Maddy and Mia's gift were rather large (in terms of expense) but warranted. Maddy needs a computer for next year when she graduates and heads out of the house. And Mia is due a trip since Maddy has already had one a few years ago. So don't worry - we don't favour certain children. It all averages out in the end!
For brunch we had our traditional cinnamon buns and a much more lazy fried eggs and bacon than our typical breakfast casserole. But just as tasty. While we ate, we watched the Nativity Story. I love that movie. While it may not be 100% accurate (such as the three wise men arriving shortly after baby Jesus was born), it still stirs wonder in my heart. I always end up in many, many tears. The story, the sacrifice is amazing. The sacrifice of Mary and Joseph is also amazing - and how God knew their hearts and their willingness to endure so much to love and serve Him. And to see Mary struggling and crying out in pain to give birth to GOD. It is just all crazy. Crazy wonderful. And the many glimpses of God's grace in little reassurances here and there - and some big, huge reassurances - that the truth was the TRUTH. It is all an incredible story. Wonder-filled.
The remainder of the morning was spent playing Wii and playing/creating with the gifts. Maddy fiddled with her computer, Cade made all kinds of cool circuitry thingies, Lucy started painting her canvas and Mia coloured in her book. Then at 1:00, we hit the not-so-snowy slopes. This is our new Christmas day tradition….and probably will stick regardless of how much snow there is or isn't! And after all, Cade and Lucy needed to try out their new gifts. It was kind of slowish going….
Another family we know has had this sledding tradition for years and years. We met up with them last year when we went with the Giesbrecht cousins, and hardly knew them at the time. This time we asked when they would be there so we could meet up with them again. Another family we know what there as well.
Maddy, the true Californian, couldn't be convinced to go down the hill. She pooped the party - her and her tea.
Cade tried to snowboard as well but it didn't work too terribly well. He had fun anyway.
I did go down a few times myself but unfortunately don't have any documentation. You'll just have to take my word for it.
After we were done, the Doerksens invited us over for hot chocolate to warm up. It was so nice to be invited over. We stayed for a while and just sat around and talked. They are wonderful people. I also got to catch up with the wife in the other family - we knew each other from bible college and hadn't had more than a few seconds bumping into each other since we moved here. I've thought several times of inviting their family over but have just never done it. That should change.
Back at home we had our traditional potato salad for dinner, but didn't do sausage since we had so much leftover stuff. We made another batch of patacones (they didn't work so well - apparently cold cooked plantains don't squish well) and had leftover ceviche and ham.
Grandma came over for a little while as well. It started off for an hour. Then she stayed for dinner. Then she stayed for a movie. She must really like being around us!
We watched The Christmas Shoes… a mildly cheesy but sweet and tender Christmas movie. A great way to end a wonderful Christmas day.
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