Christmas In Jeff

It was that time of year again-Christmas at Nanny and Papa's. I have at my desk pictures of last Christmas when I was 7 months pregnant and Lauren had just had Alyssa 2 days prior to Christmas on Saturday. Fast-forward to one year later, and Peanut (Alyssa) is one year old, Harrison is 16 months old and Braden is 10 months old. What a lively Christmas this was! Harrison was afraid of Braden. Alyssa did not care for either of them. When we set them in front of the gifts for their pictures chaos erupted. Harrison cried because Braden touched him, Alyssa looked at Harrison and cried, presumably because Harrison was crying. Braden looked at all the cameras with a bewildered expression on his face, as if to say "why are all these babies crying? I am just sitting here ready for my picture." Braden actually sat on or near the couch with Brad and I most of the time while gifts were being opened. For those of you who know Braden: that was our own personal Christmas miracle. That child never sits still for more than a few moments. Babies had to be taken away to be fed, changed etc. But we made it through with fun gifts courtesy of Nanny, Papa and Aunt Francie. Thanks to all for a lovely time and for once again going above and beyond with the gifts. We loved every minute of it!

Merry Christmas From The Dirheimers!

This is Braden's first Christmas, and Brad and I both feel like we haven't actually had time to enjoy it yet. This is a new parental feeling for me. I remember growing up that Christmas was a magical event, and family was everything. There was a wonderment about the holidays. Not only was Santa coming to visit, but I was going to see my family.

Living so far away from my immediate family meant traveling around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I never questioned that Santa was not coming for us on Christmas Day. We always celebrated on a designated day, with the idea put into our heads that Santa made a special stop for us either before or after the actual day. He knew that we would be traveling to see our family, so he made accomidations for us. We never questioned this logic. We accepted it with a spirit only a child could muster. When my brother and I were older and understood the real meaning of Christmas, we learned that a part of the joy of Christmas was being with family. We always made it to Evansville, come snow and bad weather. It was always worth it-no matter the circumstances. Those few Christmases we were not there stand out to me as sad and lonely. They were minus the love and laughter we had been raised with.

With a growing family now, it is not possible to make it back to Evansville and a host of happy childhood memories. Instead, I play my Brenda Lee Christmas CD and listen to "There's No Place LIke Home For The Holiday's" by Perry Como. When I hear those words, I am transported back.

Reflecting on past Christmases has made me optimistic about our present and future Christmases. Giving Braden one tenth of what I had on Christmas would be more than enough to make memories to last a lifetime. To me, that is what Christmas is all about-not the money or the gifts-but the spirit of the season and the love of family. I would take that over anything else in the world.