We arrived with great weather and no snow. That first night was Christmas eve. We let Penny enjoy opening one gift that night. And the one she opened was really special. It was one of those recordable story books, personalized by her daddy. Jay did such a wonderful job of making the story come alive. It will be a special memory for Penny to treasure always.
The next day it began snowing and kept it up most of the day. It was a beautiful, white Christmas.
The only really sad thing about our Christmas was that we had been expecting Penny's two uncles, one aunts and two of her cousins to be coming that Christmas day. But, unfortunately, the two cousins that she thought were coming had to stay home, because of the sisters had just caught influenza. But, she was really happy to see her aunt and uncles, though.
This is the place where Penny had her first Christmas in America, five years ago. But, she says she can't remember it. She must have been too overwhelmed by everything. But, she seemed so much more relaxed and comfortable this year. And she handled the disappointing news about her cousins not coming in a very mature, grown up way.
But, it was also fun to see her still bubble up with childlike joy over lots of simple things, like a Barbie ornament that she had really wanted and Daddy had to be very sneaky to buy,
But, her favorite part of all seemed to be when Grandpa read the Christmas story about Jesus' birth.
In fact, Grandpa even got to read it twice. He read it in the morning before we opened the gifts that we had bought for our own family, and later, in the evening before we opened gifts for the extended family. Penny truly understands who is our greatest gift. And she seemed most excited about the devotional book that Jay gave her for Christmas, because she has grown to love God's word with all of her heart.
It has been really special to have Jay's mother here to join with Chandra's family. It is her first Christmas without her dear husband, Jack. So, Jay was especially happy to have her here with us to celebrate together.
Jay made Mother a really special gift, by transferring recordings from their early family gatherings that even included his grandparents from old casettes to CD's. Now, she can listen to special memories of her own family from Christmas gatherings past.
And Chandra's favorite gift was definitely that of a handmade apron from her mom. Not the most flattering picture, but here it is...
It was definitely fun to have our sister-in-law, April, along this year. Two years ago we welcomed her into the family when she married Chandr'as brother, Brad. She's a wonderful addition to the family and we had so much fun with her! And it was fun to have her sweet dog, Daisy, along, too!
So, we were all very blessed to have a special Christmas, together, so thankful for God's great gift of love born on that first Christmas night!
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