Twas the night before Christmas

We had a very special Christmas Eve with Candice and our granddaughters, Marina and Stella, at their new home on the edge of the desert.  They are now living FULL in Arizona.  That means that our daughter, Candice, and two of our twelve grandchildren live only 2-1/2 hours away!

Their new home reminds us of a Spanish hacienda.  It is spectacular with it’s massive adobe walls, a single hallway running the length of the home, high ceilings, windows from the ground to ceiling, and the enclosed courtyard with outside covered porches, a swimming pool, and beautiful gardens.  

Christmas Eve day was surprisingly rainy, but the clouds and the mountains that surround Candice’s new beautiful home were stunning.  And the strong aroma of the wet desert was intoxicating.  The rain didn’t dampen our Christmas spirits, but we did have to bundle up with coats, hats, and blankets for our celebration.

Christmas Eve morning started with Marina and Stella sharing their artwork with Grandpa and Grandma…

Both Marina and Stella are true artists—ever since they were young girls they have been inspired to draw and create interesting and beautiful pieces of  art.  And they are both very talented artists!

Candice made a delicious Christmas Eve dinner.  We brought the desert....my Christmas cookies.  We all had fun opening our gifts.  It was particularly special to see the delight on our girl’s faces as they opened the gifts we had found for them.

And we were delighted with the loving cards and thoughtful gifts that we received!

I modeled my new outfit.

Dan said, I don’t have “outfits,” but Stella and Marina insisted the he model his new “outfit” too.

We all thought he looked awfully cute in his new “outfit, “ and his Santa hat.

Marina and Stella modeled the new sweatshirts that we had ordered for them.  They were thrilled with their school sweatshirts.  They were particularly pleased that we had their names embroidered  under their school name and mascot.

In fact, they had so much fun modeling their sweatshirts, that Stella almost dumped Marina into the pool.  Luckily, Stella thought that Marina had her cell phone on her.

So she ended up hugging her instead…..

Christmas is a special time of the year for us.  We are blessed to be able to share this magical time with family.  Our dream Christmas would be to have all our children, grandchildren, and family gathered together with us to share our joy and love that we all have for each other, and to celebrate this life that we have been given.

We feel very fortunate that this Christmas we will get to be with more of our family.  Sean, Emily, and our grandsons, Soren and Sebastian, are flying in from Georgia the day after Christmas to celebrate with us for the week.  

In early January Owen, Mila, and Hannah are driving here from Washington.  And Jules and Diane are visiting us this spring.  We are so happy and excited to see so much of our family in the New Year!

Tomorrow is Christmas, such a special day to us. And our stockings are hung by the window with care…