Merry Christmas!

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:11-14

We were very blessed to celebrate a third Christmas with Quintin (during his first, he was just two weeks old, the best Christmas gift ever!). Our lives seem to grow more rich and full with each year together -- Quintin has brought an entirely new sense of giving to the season, as his own birth helped to bring Kevin & I from selfish singles (we were still adjusting to the married bit) toward a cohesive family unit. The gift of God's son to us has gained a new level of meaning -- being separated from our own son for even a week seems incomprehensible; I can't imagine sending him to another world where I knew he'd be persecuted! We are so grateful for the new depths of faith and thanksgiving that the last year brought to our family. We feel truly blessed by the new friends and supportive community we've found at the Zephyrhills First United Methodist Church, and are very thankful, as well, for those "old" friends who've been with us through thick and thin!

This year's Christmas celebration began with a Christmas Eve service at FUMC, where Kevin plays the bass & Sarah sings with the contemporary service's band, Salvation's Rock. Mommy left early & grabbed Quintin from the nursery to try for an earlier night's sleep (we knew it'd make all the difference in our Christmas day!). Quintin was pretty wound up from the late night in the church nursery, so we were still awake when Daddy got home (quite late!). Daddy showed Quintin a personalized video from Santa that he found online -- Quintin watched & must have been listening, because around 6:00 a.m., he rolled over in his bed and shouted, "Presents!" before going back to sleep! He finally woke up about 9:30 a.m., and we began opening presents. Mommy confession time: Mommy rewrapped some of the wonderful birthday presents Quintin received at his birthday party on December 13 after he went to sleep that night; they stayed hidden behind the tree until Christmas morning. Don't worry, Santa added a little to the stash! Quintin wanted only DADDY to help him open the numerous ties, staples, tape, etc. that held each toy into its box -- "Peeeeeeeeeeeease, Daddy, OPEN!" Mommy contented herself with taking lots of pictures, although, since we have only our camera phones, very few turned out -- Quintin & Daddy just move too much & too fast for the slower cameras to work very well!

Because we didn't want to rush Quintin, he was still opening presents more than an hour later (it wasn't that he had that many presents, he just wanted to play with each one for a while before moving on -- something that actually made Mommy & Daddy really happy). We finally left for Aunt Chrissy & Uncle David's with a few presents waiting still under the tree :-) The ride to their house was kind of a fiasco (we won't go into embarrassing details about the inability of some husbands to take advice about directions from their wives!) -- but, it gave us a nice long ride to enjoy with one another in great, sun-shiny Florida weather ;-) When we finally arrived, Daddy & Uncle David made an incredible breakfast for us, with help from Aunt Chrissy's mom (she made biscuits & turkey gravy that were awesome!). There was a second round of gift unwrapping as the kids exchanged gifts and then Quintin & Bailey played with all of Bailey's new Christmas toys (Bailey is always very generous about letting Quintin grab all of his most treasured toys -- what a great guy!). Aunt Chrissy & Mommy got caught up with one another, and then enjoyed the wonderful meal with everyone. It was such a relaxing time and it was a real joy to be able to spend such quality time together.

Next on our list of stops was Great-Grandmother Slicker's house:-) Quintin fell asleep during the ride over, so Mommy visited some with Uncle Will & Grandmother before Daddy & (a still very tired) Quintin joined us. Uncle Will gave Daddy a huge plate of Honey Baked Ham -- one of his favorites! We exchanged goodies & Quintin opened more gifts (Grandmother found several more Elmo toys to add to his collection -- he loves them all!). From Grandmother's, we met Granddady & Nana in Clearwater (unfortunately, we had to do so in a parking lot, since we were heading in opposite directions & nothing was opened!). There, we exchanged gifts to and from Uncle Rodney & Sophia, Uncle Mike & Aunt Tanya, and Uncle Alex & Aunt Trisha. What a treat!
Mommy was especially glad to spend some time with her parents & new family all together!

Our last stop was to Grammie Czap's house, where we got hugs & yet more gifts -- what a treasure, since we don't often see her! Quintin loves watching Grammie's huge goldfish and talking with her birds. Grammie also has two kitties, but they're too shy to visit with a two-year-old on the loose!

It was pretty late by the time we made it back to our house, and we were all pretty tired, but had just enough energy left to start a video chat with Grammie and Grandpop Smith. They'd sent a big box full of gifts for each of us -- what a treat! Because Quintin was pretty tired, the conference didn't last very long; instead, we got to open gifts two days in a row:-)

We are so fortunate to have such a loving network of family and friends -- what a blessing you all are in our lives!