2010 Memorable Christmas Moments

We had a wonderful Christmas shared with Mom and Dad Philp.  Christmas Eve they stayed overnight with us.  We had a delicious spaghetti dinner made by Ryan followed by our traditional Family Home Evening featuring the reading of the Christmas story in Luke.  Ryan also read from Matthew and the Book of Mormon.  An additional treat was the record player and collection of Firestone and Goodyear records that Dad brought – this is the Christmas music that I remember.  As the music played, it took me back to Christmases on Rovey; our brick fireplace crackled and popped with a warm, inviting fire alive with brilliant colors.  I miss that home so much that every Christmas I feel I would like to go there and tell the current owners that I have come home for Christmas!  However, we are sharing our traditions and creating new traditions in our home for Pace so hopefully he will have wonderful memories of childhood Christmases just as we do.  In keeping with one tradition, we opened one gift on Christmas Eve.  Pace opened his “Scooby-Doo Mystery Van with Ghost Catching Shaggy”!

He was so thrilled we thought maybe Christmas morning would be a let down!  I opened a beautiful card with $50.00 from Mom and Dad, Mom opened a CD of the Messiah given by me, and Dad opened his gift from Dana – a leather wallet and money clip.  After that, there was time for one more story, a beautiful pop-up book I found last year about the birth of the Savior, and time for bed.  We told Pace he needed to get to bed in order for Santa to come but he just couldn’t go to sleep.  Pace is no dummy, he recognized this year that we don’t have a fireplace and wondered how Santa was going to get in.  Mom is no dummy either!  In preparation for this question, I bought a Santa Key that only works for Santa; an invention that became necessary for homes without a fireplace.  This answer seemed acceptable and off he went to bed.  Sleep, however, was a whole different story.  As we periodically checked on him, we caught him playing with his new Mystery Machine.  When caught, he quickly threw his head back on the pillow and acted as though he were sleeping.  Santa was not fooled, however, and it wasn’t until close to mid-night that he finally fell asleep for good!  So, a bleary-eyed Santa and his helpers went to work filling the stockings and setting up the toys.  Finally, Santa was able to go to bed around 2:00am.

Our thoughts were also with Dad Weight who was in the hospital in Las Vegas.  He took a fall earlier in the month and was so weak and dehydrated that he couldn’t walk.  We knew the hospital was the best place for him but our hearts ached for him to spend the holidays there.  He has been long-suffering since losing Mom and we wish we could wave a magic wand and put him back into a happier time. Our heart-felt thanks to Ryan’s sister and brother-in-law, Cheryl and Steve, for the constant and loving care they have given and continue to give to Dad.  As a P.S. Dad was diagnosed with pneumonia and had to stay in the hospital until Dec. 30.  He will be released back to his assisted living facility – his progress will be monitored to see if he needs to be moved to a more intensive facility.  We continue to pray for him and hope he finds some good and happiness each day.

Christmas morning didn’t start for us until about 9:00 a.m. since Pace, Mommy, and Daddy, slept in much to Grandad’s chagrin.  Both Grammy and Grandad were up with the sun waiting for the rest of us to wake up.  When Pace finally went into the front room, he was very apprehensive, still unsure if he was on Santa’s nice list.  Pace began to empty his stocking but it was only after Grammy said that Pace must have made the nice list, did he get excited and yell “YES!!!” as he finished emptying his stocking.  We had a lovely morning opening gifts, listening to vintage Christmas music on the record player, and laughing.  Some of the more memorable gifts were:

Pace:  Trio Batcave, Iron Man’s Iron Car, a Spiderman and Batman action figure from Santa, a new Ralph Lauren outfit from Aunt Dana, a card game called Sandwich from Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Steve, Wii video games – Super Hero Squad & Lego Star Wars – and a Lego Batman shirt from Mom and Dad, a Nintendo DS video game – Spiderman -  from Grammy and Grandad, a new art set including a drawing book, acid-free colored pencils, and a small male are manequin, a missionary bank and Faith silly bands from Uncle Michael and Aunt Jodi, and various other small gifts.

Daddy – Wii video game from Santa, a Dutch Oven from Mom and Dad Philp, a grill press from me, and a cute little calculator that says “Daddy” on it from Pace.

Mommy – White gold adjustable chain for my diamond pendant, a beautiful painting of the Savior’s Second Coming, a box of Sees candy, an a candle from Ryan, a purse with $50.00 and a $25.00 gift card for the Outback from Mom, a picture frame, a necklace with a dolphin, and a My Little Pony – Rainbow Dash – from Pace, and Dead Sea lotion and body soap from Dana.

We then had a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.  Mom and Dad went home and we had some down time for the afternoon.  Around 5:00 we headed over to Mom and Dad’s house where we prepared a wonderful meal of baked ham, green-bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, and sweet potatoes.  We have cheesecake and cream-cheese fruit cake for dessert.  It seems Santa visited Pace at Grammy’s house as well and we opened a few more gifts there. 

Christmas was wonderful.  It was filled with the Spirit of the Savior and the joy that is Christmas.  Beginning with the First Presidency’s Christmas Devotional through Christmas Day it was a season filled with all of the magical wonders of Christmas.  Time to look forward to 2011 and whatever it holds.  But, I miss Christmas already!