Christmas 2009

You know, my blog is one of those places I go to when I want to share the happenings of our family. Ironically, the biggest adventure our family has ever had is completely off limits for me to blog about. I guess if you want to know anything about what's going on with our foster kids, you will have to revert to the old fashioned ways of either giving us a call or shooting us an email.

What I can share is a snapshot of our great Christmas holiday. We were foster childless for 3 days, so we were able to really enjoy each other - and some true peace on earth.

One of our favorite Christmas traditions has become leaving surprises for others on their doorstep. ( I won't say specifically what it is in case you become "victim" to our particular gift.) This year the boys came up with their own incognito, ring-the-doorbell-and-run outfits.

Yes, we have another tradition of opening and wearing new Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. Thanks grandma and grandpa!


Christmas morning traditions: Wake mom and dad up at 7 am; make a mess of the family room as quickly as possible; around 8 am grandma and grandpa Harmon arrive, bringing more gifts of course; for breakfast we enjoy eggs, bacon (the only day of the year we have real bacon instead of turkey bacon, much to Tyson's relief), oranges and a 4th ward famous Shirley Millar cinnamon tea ring; after breakfast, crash in front of the TV with a new movie playing - this year it was Star Trek.

We broke with tradition a little this year by going to Adam's sister's house (Julie) for lunch and games. It was so fun it may have to become part of a new tradition. But in the middle of the afternoon, I got a frantic call from my mom saying she just really needed us to bring by her camera that she had left at our house that morning. I agreed, feeling that I should honor my father and my mother. As we drove into their condo complex, Adam pointed out a car that looked suspiciously like my baby sister's van with its Idaho plates. There was further suspicion when we walked up to the door and it was quite noisy inside of what is generally a very quiet house. Yay - my sister and her family surprised us by showing up in the middle of Christmas day for a 5 day visit!!!

Timmi, Tyson and Tanner - best friends


Bella and Jacob - both wonder why cousins can't get married

It was the best Christmas present EVER. Tyson swore nothing could beat the year Santa brought us our kitty. It showed our boys that what Santa brought them this year was just "stuff." What really matters is our relationships with others - one of the only things we get to take with us into the next life. That is what we really treasured this year at Christmas. And that is also what our foster children have given to us - a truer understanding of why we need to really take care of and be grateful for the rare gift of a loving family and friends as we now understand more clearly that not everyone gets that in this world.

So to all of our family and friends out there - we love you! We are grateful for all of the ways you have blessed our lives this past year and wish you a happy 2010!