Christmas Morning 2008

Dave and I celebrated Christmas differently this year. We enjoyed being at home for the first time. We were able to go to our church's Christmas Eve service after having a delicious Christmas Eve dinner of lobster lasagna with friends.

On Christmas morning, I woke up early and spent time reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol, before deciding to start breakfast. Dave got up in time to help cook sausage while I cooked pancakes. As you saw in an earlier post, Mason laid right behind us as we cooked. Dave neglected to mention that he was standing to my left turning the sausage links while Mason laid there. With the edge of the island right behind us; it was a tight squeeze, but nothing we aren't used to. After our pancake breakfast, we headed to the sofa to open our gifts. Dave's family shipped everything to us, so there was plenty to open.

Mason got to spend his first Christmas at home, as well, since he is usually boarded during our travels. We started by checking our stockings. Mason's had a Beggin' Strip in it, which he'd been sniffing all morning after Santa put it in the night before. After getting the edibles from our stockings, we started opening gifts. Mason loves to destroy gift wrap tubes, so we decided that he could surely handle opening a wrapped gift. He was a little tentative on the first gift, his moose. The moose must have smelled odd because all Mason really cared to do was sniff it. (He didn't play with it until Friday or Saturday, which broke Dave's heart. Dave's spirit's raised when he saw Mason running through the house flailing it about.)


But by the second package containing his rope, he was an old pro. He carried it over to show me the unopened package.

Then, he went over to have some more room and tore into the package.

Mason comes over to greet me while I open my gifts.

Dave sheepishly smiles while opening a gift.
After opening packages, Dave and I headed out for a morning walk. We watched Home Alone and Disney's animated Robin Hood--both gifts that we love. We talked to our families. We relaxed. We had a great steak dinner. We went on another walk. We ate pieces of the coconut cake. We gave thanks for a God who loves us enough to send a Savior and who has blessed us with the impending birth of Baby Mac. It was a great, quiet, simple day.