Christmas Eve was busy but yet a lot of fun. We started the evening off at Pat's Uncle Matt and Aunt Ann's house. They are such great hosts with lots of yummy foods and we always have an amazing time. This year there were three new babies. What a blessing! Next, we headed to my Uncle Ed and Aunt Nancy's place downtown for yet another great family get together. Pat and I both come from large families so these "gatherings" are actually quite large.... close to 40 people at each I believe. When we arrived at my aunt and uncle's house we were surprised to see my younger brother Eddie. Ed lives in Atlanta and is a golf pro. He had to work on the 23rd and 26th of December and told us he couldn't make it in for Christmas. Well, joke was on us... Ed bought a plane ticket and surprised the whole family by showing up on Christmas Eve! It was awesome to have our entire family together! Such a great blessing! The night ended with a visit from Santa Claus himself! The kids all got a chance to sit on his lap and make one last plea for the gifts they wanted. It was so cute watching their little faces light up when they climbed upon his lap. I can't describe the emotion that overcame me when I placed Landon on Santa's knee. Pure joy! It's something I have longed to do since we lost Paige. I guess knowing that she would never get to sit on Santa's lap was heart breaking to me, so watching Santa hold my little boy made my heart sing. I couldn't even take pictures because I was crying so hard. Luckily, my cousin's wife took my camera and took pictures for me. The most touching part of the whole experience was Santa's reaction. I placed Landon in his arms and he looked up at me and saw that I was crying. I'm sure he was taken back. My Aunt Kathy leaned over to him and explained that Landon had a big sister that went to heaven this year and how special this was for me. Santa looked at Landon so lovingly and then leaned over and kissed him. He knew what a great gift my son was. It was so neat to see. Later that evening, Santa told my aunt that he was so honored that I allowed him to hold our precious Landon and that he felt privileged to be a part of his first Christmas. How cool is that! Here is a short video of Santa and Landon...
Christmas morning we woke up and enjoyed time together as a family of four. Yep, that's right...4! Paige was here in spirit, I just know it! We then headed to Pat's parents house for Christmas with his immediate family. This is a fun tradition and we get such a kick out of watching our niece, Tatum, and nephew, Caplan, open gifts.... too funny! In the afternoon we headed down to my parents house for my families Christmas. With ten grand kids this year it sure made for a fun time with lots of gift opening! We had a great dinner and once again it was so good to see my brother Eddie. We even got a family photo....
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| Marla, Bill, Maria, Me, Marcia, Eddie Mom and Dad |
Our Christmas ended with a nice, quiet evening at home... fast asleep because we were all exhausted! Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers as we headed into this first Christmas without Paige. Once again, the love and support of our family, friends and complete strangers amazed me! We hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!
And they were calling to one another: "Holy holy holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory."
Isaiah 6:3
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