I win!: It was a good Christmas!

One of Kirsten's 'arty' Christmas pics

Christmas 2011 is now officially over. It was a good Christmas, but it felt different somehow. It could be because of the weather. It wasn't particularly cold, there was definitely NO snow, maybe that was it. We didn't go to Seattle (sadly all my cousins are busy with their own families these days, but I SO miss the years when we would always be together on Christmas). We had the Christmas Eve gathering with the Haans. Not everyone was able to be there, so it was a smaller group, maybe that was it? Maybe it was because I was hobbling around on my scooter, unable to stand on both feet?? I'm not sure, but it did feel different. Not different bad, just different.

This year has been a tough one for us financially, so I was a little concerned that the kids might be disappointed with the smaller offerings left under the tree. I shouldn't have worried. They were all excited with what 'Santa' had left for them! I'm slowly learning that the kids don't expect it, instead it is what we hope/expect to do for them that needs to be adjusted. I find myself often falling into the trap of wanting to overcompensate with my own kids--again not something they expect AT ALL, just something I want to do. I grew up in a household where you were always VERY keenly aware of the household financial issues. I have vowed many, many times that my own kids would be aware that there was a finite amount of resources, but I never wanted them to feel the stress and strains of the financial crisis that I felt growing up. Growing up in a household where you think you might be homeless at any moment is not good for instilling security. I didn't want to do that to my own kids.

So while it felt different this year, it was still a very good Christmas. The kids are happy, Dean and I are happy together, and we are all healthy (well relatively speaking--my body is a bit broken, but that is somewhat fixable). Joshua is excited to be getting married next year, Kirsten loves college, Annika is enjoying her life. Yup, not so bad. Next year at this time, we will be doing who knows what and starting new traditions. Maybe why that is why this year felt different. It is the last year that it will be just the 5 of us.

Here are some pictures from our weekend. Enjoy!

Joshua decided that even though we started opening gifts at 2:00 pm he would normally open gifts in his pjs, sooooo, he changed out of his clothes, and donned his new robe and pj pants for the rest of the day.