christmas past

It's one in the morning...my husband is sleeping...my 5 month old is sleeping...but I am not...what am I doing? Wrapping Christmas presents! One in the morning didn't use to seem that late...but now it is only a few mere hours until waking up time in the Pinson household...but there's that thing about the holidays that makes me lose all sense of normalcy...In the quiet of the house...the only sound being that last load of laundry before packing begins...I am remembering many of my favorite holiday memories...here are just a few...

...my grandma's pancakes on christmas morning...she makes them in the shape of our initials...now that takes talent! it was great until my cousin michael wanted her to make them for he and his friend, only he wanted first and last names...and my grandma...being the saint that she is...made them!

...decorating the christmas tree...one ornament at a time...while alternating between the anne murray and oakridge boys christmas records...that makes me feel a little old!

...my baby brother (who is now 20!) singing his favorite christmas song, "Baby Jesus in a Manger" over and over until he got it just right...

...my baby brother telling Santa Claus that his name was "Bradley Tyndall Hardin Ralph...but I call myself Ralph"...not every day you hear that from a three year old!

...my baby brother taping a sock to his face and playing Santa Claus...and the sad home video that we have of me as a 3rd grader doing the same thing a few hours later, trying to pass the idea off as my own...

...and of course, my baby brother yelling as we took off in the plane for north carolina at 5 am, "Up, Up and Away!" (along with some other things that I will not mention on this blog for fear he may never speak to me again...

...my sister emily's story of the most "BEAUUUUUUUUTIFUL girl to be given the most BEAUUUUUUUUUTIFUL present", chosen by Santa Claus...her name being, of course, "Emily Tyndall"...all this being told with a very beautiful and flattering rug burn on her nose!

...baking with my mom in the kitchen...

...watching my poppa play Santa...

...spending christmas in south dakota...

...spending christmas in north carolina where I always feel closer to my dad than anywhere else by getting to see him in a place he loves so much...

...my aunt Marianne going NUTS over the school bus toy that Bradley got...yeah, you had to be there...

...the amazing cookie swap party that my mom threw for my sister and me and our friends, which we recently re-created for our cutie cousin Melissa Jo...

...not being able to go sleep, and not being able to leave the bedroom after a certain time, therefore resulting in my sister and I running laps around the room until we finally passed out!

...lining up in the hallway, in age order, with all the cousins...waiting to see what Santa brought us...

...sleeping upstairs in the loft on the farm and listening very closely for sleighbells...

...the bowie gift exchange...better named as the battle of the sexes...

...the gunfight videos...only in our family would children (and adults!) be dressed up as outlaws and stage a gunfight for a video camera!

...all of us piled on the floor in my grandparents bedroom, trying very hard not to giggle and to go to sleep...very difficult if you know my sister who is 21 and still a...what's the word...gigglebox!

...having my family set up a christmas tree and even a faux fireplace in the hospital room where I lived for six months in the years 1998-1999, and bringing Christmas to me...not the most fun place to spend the holidays, but with my wonderful family, I almost forgot where I was...

...losing my sanity and letting Santa explode all over our college house in Abilene...something I think my roommates will never let me live down, and I don't think that they should!

...celebrating an engagement to the love of my life in 2002...and then in 2003 learning that we would receive the beautiful blessing who is now sleeping peacefully down the hall...

So many memories, and those are only a few...I am so excited about our first Christmas as a family of three...we can't wait to start making our own memories...I know I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful family who loves to share the holidays...not only that, but I married into a family like that also...I am doubly blessed!

God, who in His grace, gave us His son, also gave us the precious gift of family and friends...the gift of time that He gave us is one we can pass on...I hope that during this holiday season we will not forget to slow down and spend time with those He has blessed us with...oh sure, i got some fun and memorable presents over the years, but notice that those didn't make the list...my favorite times are the simple ones...cuddling up in our pajamas and laughing for hours at home videos...reading the christmas story from the Bible, the Night Before Christmas, and the Polar Express...eating till we are sick, taking a nap, and then eating again...cherishing more fully than any time of year the gift of Jesus in our lives...

People often say that Christmas is not about gifts...but it is about THE GIFT...the hope that was brought to us in the form of a baby boy, as innocent as my precious child asleep in his crib, yet powerful enough to save the world...and the promise that we have of eternal life because He never stops giving us the gift that is His mercy and love...

In this holiday season, I am humbled at how undeserving I am, and so encouraged and thankful that God in all His glory does not look at it that way...What a blessing that we have the example of the ultimate giver to follow and that His gift is free to all...even me...