My friend Paige always finds the coolest things online. She introduced me to Etsy, along with Pinterest. I am addicted to both and I totally blame her for the hours I spend on these sites. It must be because she is a fantastic mom or works with lots of women, or something, that she finds these things. Anyways, one November day she phones me (on my cell phone because I was in the city) and tells me she found this great Christmas gift for my mom. She goes on to explain that she got this frame that says...
She asks if my mom will think it's funny and I say YES (I think she will?)! I told Paige she has to get it, and if she doesn't, that I will. Paige did get it and gave it to my mom over Christmas and I'm so happy she did, because it gave us a chance to reflect and laugh about our Christmas, not to mention it totally describes our family. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but it definitely IS a circus.
The whirlwind started Christmas morning with church at 10:00 with my family. We all managed to get ready and walk through the church doors 5 minutes early. For anyone that knows my family, that was a Christmas miracle. Then we headed home to open presents with my immediate family. It was fun watching the kids open their presents (and ours) and I also enjoyed uninterrupted time holding little Jakobi. The circus was just getting started as we headed to my grandparents. Christmas at my grandparents consists of about 30 aunts, uncles, cousins, cousins' significant others, and kids. We start about 3:00 in the afternoon, which means 4:00-4:15 for most of the family, and go until, well, until it's over. We eat, open presents (one by one), and then play a girl's game and guy's game. My dad decided to add one more thing to the list this year and asked my cousin, Laci, her husband, and another of my cousin's boyfriends to sing some songs. My grandma LOVED this idea, she loved it so much that she would not let anyone open presents until we sang one ENTIRE song. So we started with Christmas carols, but couldn't remember any song beginning to end. Lucky for us, my cousin's boyfriend knew some Johnny Cash and did a great rendition of Folsom Prison Blues. The presents then got opened and we played the girl and guys game later. We all went home with a food hangover, Johnny Cash playing in our heads, and a few more incredible memories from another Christmas.
I have been going to my grandparents house every Christmas for as long as I can remember and I feel SO AMAZINGLY blessed to still be going to their house and seeing them both so happy to be surrounded by their family. But, as magical and amazing as Christmas is with my family...it still IS a circus.
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| My brother's not so little family |
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| Xavier and Mae |
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| Little Jakobi |
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| Singing songs |
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| Dad and Brandon with Grandma's new 'purse' from Grandpa |
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| My grandma and grandpa enjoying a laugh |
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| A non-circus moment |
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