Chris
and I went out clubbing Saturday night.
Well, to be fair, we went to one club.
OK, to be completely honest, we went to MOD Coffeehouse to listen to Jim
(one of our praise team guys) sing outside.
It was pretty nice. The weather
was great in spite of the weatherman’s predicted rainfall that never
materialized. We just sat outdoors and
drank cold hot chocolate (my only
complaint about the evening) and talked to Charlotte (Jim’s wife). He did a great
job, by the way. He had a good rapport
with the crowd, and I just like the way he sounds. Nice job, Jim.
Yesterday
was our actual family Christmas. It was
the first time everyone could be together in the same place. Josh and Christi and their boys got here
first, so they had to experience the anguish of patience – waiting on their
belated cousins to arrive. Problem was,
Noa was taking a nap (read here, Kel was
watching the Texans football game), so I didn’t expect them until the game
was over. Nathan and April were driving
in from their Christmas in Corpus Christi, and they ran into a patch of the
nasty weather that kept threatening in Galveston (It held off here, though, until everyone arrived).
Once
everyone was here and I had my Galveston Santa suit on (that would be a Santa hat and the coat with the sleeves rolled up and
the front collar rolled under), we begin the festivities. And of course that meant reading the
Christmas story first. Kel found the
version he had read Christmas Day on his phone, so I read it off of Kindle (whatever that means). Next came … no not presents. Next was Nani’s picture of all the grandkids
holding their stockings but not looking inside yet (Quite the feat, I might add).
I think amid the 700 or so that we took we might be able to find one or
two that will be usable for a Christmas letter.
And finally it was time.
First
the kiddos checked out their stockings.
Fun stuff there, and yes, Josiah, they each had an apple. Then they were all set to get after the
presents. But wait. Nani pointed out that the adults hadn’t even
received their stockings yet. Well,
taking care of that minor oversight took all of two seconds. Come on, Nani. Finally the time had arrived. We decided this year that whoever had come
from farthest away could give out their presents first. Caleb leapt at the chance to represent
Waco. I suppose Cailyn could have made a
case, since they had indeed driven in from Corpus Christi. But they live in Galveston. Caleb and Zak were on for distribution. They were followed by the LaMarque cousins
and then the Galveston cousin. And
finally Nani and DadDad had our turn to hand out Christmas joy. I kind of liked this approach. It emphasized giving, but everyone received
every round as well.
Tacos
were the cuisine for the day, and the Dad gifts were distributed while around the
table (those would be the special gifts I
select for each of the adults to show them that someone really did think about
them enough during the past year to give them an “appropriate” present). They are usually little commemorative
things. Two tiny rhinos for April since
she enjoyed watching them so much when we all went to the zoo. A giant blow-up of the picture Christi had
taken of her and Chip Gaines, the Waco TV celebrity. A Rapunzel wig for Nathan so he can continue
his exploits as Aquaman indefinitely. A
Texans #1 fan finger with every quarterback who has ever played for the Texans
inserted on it (I had to unwrap that gift
six or seven times. The Texans just couldn’t
keep a healthy quarterback). A
little minion to let Chris know that she is cared for during the allergy season
(Sorry, that story would require way too
much time). Some DC Comics world “wallpaper”
for Christina’s downstairs superheroes-themed bathroom. And for Josh, some “inspirational” reading
material inspired by certain issues they have had in one particularly crucial
room of their house. Great fun for all,
and hopefully memorable.
Acts
16:34 says, “The jailer brought them into
his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had
come to believe in God — he and his whole family.”
Father,
thank you again for the family you blessed us with. We have been given the gift of quite a quiver. We love ‘em.
Amen.
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