A warm December

Some things took a little getting used to. Like Santa with sunglasses and decorated palm trees. We've never spent a Christmas in the tropics before.

Without our regular built in activities, we knew some things could just slip by. What do we want it to feel like? So we made our list.

And we did good. Our warm December was full of Christmas goodness. We made ornaments and delivered treats to our neighbors. Sang carols and read the scriptures. Did a family service project and read Christmas stories. Packages and cards from family really helped us feel connected.

Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner with our wonderful neighbors. Paul's stew, rolls and salad. Their girls' made a birthday cake for dessert.

We read the nativity story and the kids each played a part. David was an excellent camel. Then stockings were laid out and cookies put on a plate. "I've been waiting for this night for years!" Noah said.

Christmas morning the boys' eyes were huge. I mean huge. I'm not sure if they ever actually constricted back to normal. So many surprises and treats. and love.

Grandmas and Grandpas were called on Skype. They opened presents, played, opened a couple more, played, opened a couple more, played, all day.

Somehow we managed to get them downstairs to have brunch with our neighbors. Yummy beignets with strawberries. We ate and played some more while the dads set up their Wii and "tested it out" for the kids.

Later we had a beautiful ham dinner with friends. When the day was done - Christmas over but still spread throughout our apartment - David and I talked about our warm December and if it felt they way we wanted it to. There were a few things that weren't quite right; I burnt the rice pudding for breakfast, and we really missed our families. But, we smiled. We did good.