Christmas 2010

I love Christmas! The fragrant tree, cinnamon apple candles, the music, the lit up houses in the neighborhood. Every year, I snicker when I hear Neil Diamond sing Christmas carols. Every year I cry while watching It's a Wonderful Life. Every year I chuckle while watching A Christmas Story. It is fun that friends/family have extra time off work and/or more flexible schedules.

Marshall is at such a fun age for Christmas. All he kept asking for was a Gordon train and "down by the docks." We weren't exactly sure what "down by the docks" was, knowing only that it was somehow connected to Thomas the Train. My mom and Bob got Marshall some new train tracks with a bridge, tunnel and windmill and apparently this fit the bill, as he yelled, "this is just what I wanted." Friends and family were so generous with their gift giving and Marshall was thrilled and overwhelmed. My sister got him a toy parrot that records and repeats a brief phrase. When Marshall opened it he said, "this isn't a good gift, I don't like it." Eeek. Embarrassing for me, but my sister thankfully just laughed. Of course, moments later, Marshall decided he loved the parrot. He kept referring to it as "pigeon" and hearing it repeat Marshall's chirpy little voice was pretty cute.

We stayed in town for the first time and, while it was odd to not be down south, it was nice to not travel and spend Christmas morning at our own house. We hosted a dinner on Christmas eve and then went to Mary Ann and John's for Christmas day dinner. A wonderful, joyous, peaceful holiday overall. I thought I'd be a little more disappointed that it is all over, but we have barreled happily into the new year.