Our Very Merry...

In light of the horrific tragedy that happened in Connecticut this past Friday, and in light of all of the families and loved ones that are so deeply grieving, it feels so very trite to write about our family's happy little Christmas that we were celebrating on that exact same day.  Because of that, I probably won't post this link over onto Facebook - but for the sake of documenting memories and of keeping them alive for my family for years to come, I do want to record our little day on this blog journal of mine...

This year, though, I may just let the pictures speak a little more than my own typed words.
I'm still at a bit of a loss...

 

We held our babies close.

We read.  We snuggled.  We filled little love tanks.

 We got silly ideas off of Pinterest.
And we made special breakfasts.

We lingered long.
We savored well.
And we gifted each other Love.

There were homemade gifts...

Thrift store gifts...
And gifts bought off of Ebay.

There was even a gift memory from eight short years ago that I remembered my biggest boy absolutely loving.  So, Daddy went on a hunt to find its replica.

And Mama remembered, like it was yesterday, how to put the tracks together...

And just like her oldest, her baby loves it, too...

The Christmas story was read.
Sweet prayers were prayed...

And we were reminded yet again of "What God Wants for Christmas"...
The day was simple.  And it was sweet.
It wasn't over the top, and it was slow.

There were times of quiet.

And times of crazy.

There were games.

And there was feasting.

There was togetherness.
And there was love...

As always....

There were sweet conversations, and there were some "I'm sorry's."

There was tender brother love, and there were moments of not so much.

There was grace given, and grace received.

 There were multiple games of Cribbage.
And many cups of coffee...

 There were reminders of why we celebrate...
And of Who we are waiting for...

Per our tradition, we always have Chinese food for our "Christmas lunch."

And there were little things that made us happy.

Sweet memories.
Family traditions.

A house of messy, but a house of love.
A family of imperfection, but a family committed.
Two parents imperfect, but two who love like crazy.
Three boys who are ours...if only for now.
And a Savior we celebrate ~ who came to redeem us.

"Lean into joy.  Build resilience. Cultivate hope." ~ Daring Greatly, 2012