Another Christmas has come and gone

It seems like just yesterday I started playing my Christmas carols on the radio or with the CD's. The red and green were just beginning to pop up in the stores. Santa hadn't made it to the mall yet. Lights were starting to appear on front lawns. Now we've got trash cans packed to overflowing, there are Christmas dinner leftovers in the fridge, and there's a stack of "return" items waiting by the door.

This Christmas was different then any I had ever had before. My daughter is 2 3/4 and is learning what Christmas is all about. She knows now what the word "Christmas" is, she knows about Santa, AND she can semi sing her way through "Jingle Bells". She left out cookies and milk for Santa, which we were forgot to point out were gone the next morning, for the first time. She wore the big fluffy Christmas dress to the Christmas Eve Service at our chapel, got to hold a lit candle for a few seconds, and did her dancing at the front of the chapel to the verses of "Joy To The World". On Christmas morning we had to prod her along to keep opening up Christmas presents, because she would open one up, see what she likes and then want to play. When her daddy and I would start to open up one of our own, she would take possession of the gift and claim it as, "mine."

What is Christmas without friends and family? Since we live a good 2500 miles away from our closest relatives we had over some friends. People we've gotten to know in the past year and a half we've lived here. We then had three little girls running around giggling and screaming and just having fun while the adults spent there time talking and eatting and enjoying each other's company. This was a change from last year where many were invited and only one showed up. (But a very special one.)

All this to say that I'm sad that Christmas is over. It's now time to take down the tree (or in a few days), tidy up the house, and then make my new year's resolution. This year! I will lose the weight I gained when pregnant with my daughter who is now 2 3/4. *sigh*

Fa-la-la-la-la.... la-la-la-la