Santa, Eve and Christmas.

I went to work one day and a lovely woman i work with named Jenny called me to her desk. She has been a bit of a mentor to me since I started at Ameriben. She is very understanding and kind. I appreciate her candor and ability to see me as I am. Most of all encourages me when I feel like i cannot go anymore. When i transferred out of Customer care it was difficult to leave her behind. Joy of joys when i discovered she had herself transferred to another position and works in the same building i do and i get to see her often. I do not hug many people freely but she is one. A bit before Christmas she gave me this beautiful cane wreath. I love it. It is on my door in all its splendor. I love the smell of it as I open my door. Makes my heart warm to know she thinks of me. Thank you Jenny, you are forever loved.

Every year we try to make it to our friend Dan Christensens house to ride with Santa. He goes a bit crazy with all of the decor, but he loves it. He is so happy being Santa. The photo above is a panorama of the front of his house. Someone is always walking by hence the dude in the photo. 

 It was cold and just as we got on the fire truck it started to snow. This year it was a good half hour ride for us to go to the ride but worth it. We stopped at another persons house on the way to drop off a surprise, then onto a ride. It was a nice night. The snow falling thinking of Christmas coming. We were going to go to the Botanical Gardens and see the lights but we spent far too much time with Dan. Unfortunately, we didnt get there. Fortunately, we have some tickets to go and i am hoping this week we can make a trip. it would be nice to see those lights. All the photos i have seen of it make me really want to be there. So I am hoping this week we can go sometime. Who knows maybe we missed our window. Either way the other photos i have seen are stunning.

I worked until the 23 and had a few days off. It was a joy to be home with them. Christmas Eve brought our usual Christmas Eve chow down. This year it was salad, chicken wraps, burritos and chicken nuggets. The kids love this time of year. We get things we dont usually eat and just sit around an laugh. This year we had no one at the house and we didnt have to go anywhere, it was a good change. Nice to be on our own.

I dont get that boy either. He is a strange one.

On Christmas we sat around and did nothing, absolutely nothing, just sat around and watched movies. It was glorious. Very rarely do we have Shane sitting doing nothing, but he did nothing. For my children it is a rare day when their father requests to watch movies and sit around. So they just went with it. We had turkey, ham, potatoes, veggies and bread. Delicious. My work gives out ham to every employee and we were grateful. It was something we would not usually buy.

My sister sent this to me, I love it. Its perfect in our house on the wall surrounded by photos. 

One of the most surprising gifts was brought over by a sweet friend and her husband. I had made a comment to her quite a few weeks earlier about how much i missed having nuts in our house as Christmas. She said she always had them no matter where they were in the world. So low and behold she came over with a small bin of them. I have had a few a day and so have the kids. We have cherished having them in the house. I am so grateful for her thoughtfulness. I have grown to admire her and her husband so much. They are the people i just want to sit and talk to for hours and hours. Some day i will just takes a bit of planning. 

We received other gifts as well and they are too numerous to count. I am blessed to have such kind people around me. More blessed to have my kiddos. They really thought of each other this year and found loving gifts to give, for not much money. They are wonderful kids growing into awesome humans. I am pretty lucky. 

Hope your Christmas was wonderful and merry. Or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate. I hope you have great joy and peace in the coming year. I hope our next year brings us some stability and peace as well. This year was difficult but we found a home and a home we shall have for a while. Come over anytime, you are all welcome....well i think all of you??!!!