Christmas Present, Christmas Past...already!

How is it that Christmas Day comes and goes with not so much as a blink? I feel like I have been under a blanket of fog for the past few months. I opened my eyes this morning to the realization that I am on Christmas break (hallelujah) and I don't have to think about school or schooling for the next two weeks! The fog has lifted!

Holiday preparations began way back in November when the family decided to have Christmas at the Holbrook's (that's us). If you have had the big Christmas Day gathering at your house then you know what I am talking about...menus, presents, house-cleaning, mental preparation. These, on top of all of my other daily responsibilities proved challenging but with God all things are possible! It turned out to be the BEST Christmas ever!

We kicked off the Christmas festivities with a dinner at Dad and Mom's in Placerville to celebrate the arrival of Pepe and Betty. They flew in from Maine and are spending time with Betty's family in the Bay Area and also with Dad and Mom. This is the same Grandfather who was the inital supporter of our decision to adopt. He is quite a love and though he is mostly deaf, he actually can communicate well as long as you talk slow so that he can read your lips. He's always good for a game of cribbage! Brian and I headed home late in the evening knowing that we had to start preparations. As we were leaving, Pepe and I were able to discuss what was happening with the adoption and he agreed that it will happen in God's perfect time. My continued prayer is that Pepe will one day meet this gift of love from China!

Maria and the nephews showed up around lunch time on Sunday. We spent the afternoon cleaning and cooking and she was a huge help with the boys, even though she was in much pain from an absessed wisdom tooth. Sunday eve found Brian and I up late wrapping the boys gifts and reveling over the blessings that we were going to be able to watch delight our children's hearts on Christmas morn. God is soooo good! There is nothing more joyous than being able to bless your children; not just with the material blessings, but with the security of a family filled with love and respect, humor, forgiveness, craziness...the whole bit of it! LIFE!

On Christmas eve morning we knew Maria was going to have to get into a dentist. This was becoming an emergency situation. The Lord opened a door and she was able to see a dentist down in Sacramento who took her in immediately and pulled that little sucker out. This was a big lesson for my sis who puts off taking care of herself in these ways! It was also a miracle and she was able to see again how the Father takes care. She was so blessed by this dentist who opened his door to her on Christmas Eve Day! I would like to think he was an angel!

Little sis, Tina, and I took a sweet little escape up to Nevada City, and though the sushi bar ended up being closed, we still had a lovely time with one another (and Sophia, of course) walking around the quaint shops and enjoying lunch together. Brian took all five boys to the Grass Valley Skate Park to get some of that "boy-boy" energy out...and if you know Brian at all he was very pleased to take his new board out for a little breaking-in! Maria went straight to the house after her experience and fell fast asleep...until we got home!

I went straight to work cleaning the crab for dinner and preparing for the festivities! Excitement filled the air and little Silas couldn't wait to open the traditional Christmas Eve gift. He continuously asked me, "Mommy, when will it be dark so we can open our present?" The kiddos stayed busy tracking Santa's escapades on a website. Apparently, he journeys up and down the globe going west. Hmmmm, I learned something new this year.

After a delicious crab feast and and celebration of the birth of Jesus, we sent the kiddies off to bath and bed (even though we knew sleep would be near impossible for them). Brian and I still had "stuff" to do which seemed impossible since we had been up wrapping so late the night before. Thank God we did, because I can't imagine having saved it all until Christmas Eve! We would have been up until 3:00 in the morning.

I finally found a restless sleep at midnight. I could have sworn I kept hearing little feet pitter-pattering up and down the stairs every half-hour! Apparently I was not dreaming. Little Ben confessed to getting up several times during the night to "take-a-peek". He was not disappointed! I call Ben our "Christmas Boy". He just LOVES the excitement of this time and the 'possibilities' of this time! I can relate to that, totally! Caleb, Ben, Silas and Seth ended up on the couch at 4:30 in the morning and they remained awake and chatty until it was...7:00 - the official "wake-up the adults" time.

From start to finish the day was filled with laughter, love and food! The boys spent a lot of their time outside trying out cousin Seth's new grinding rail and new skateboards. The "older crowd" spent time playing cards and eating :0) I spent most of my day in the kitchen, but I do love it so-as crazy as that may sound to some. The most blessed and special moment of the day came when Dad and Mom presented the daughters with a bound copy of my mom's journal writings from the past forty years! It was amazing and awesome to think of the time put in to typing all of the years of thoughts, prayers and memories of our family; essentially our lives from the perspective of my precious mother. It was the gift of gifts and I am waiting for the moment when I crack that first page and begin my journey through the thought-life of my mother. I know there is going to be laughter, tears and understanding! Ahhhhh, I can't even imagine.

So where does that leave us? A new year is upon us. I always listen closely to what the Father is speaking to my heart at the start of the new year and this year the word resounding in my spirit is "NEW"! This was completely confirmed when Dad and Mom expressed their own sense of God doing a new thing and that this is the end of the old season and a start of a NEW SEASON in there lives. They are praying about what that means for them and we will pray and seek the Lord with them as to what that means for our family as a whole. God is doing something NEW in our hearts for sure! We sense it, we are experiencing it and we will trust! We have worn a few miles on our adoption road and we feel the thread connecting our lives with our daughter's life being pulled a little tighter. There are still many miles of the journey ahead but we will not relent. God is faithful and His Love never fails. We hold our litle Chinese dream tightly in our hearts and will carry her into the NEW year with us!
Blessings everyone!