Christmas 2012

Christmas wishes really do come true.  You just need to believe.  Stephen and McKinley wrote to Santa Claus a few weeks ago.  They were given a choice to list one gift or three gifts that they would like.  For some reason, they both chose to list three wishes for Christmas.  McKinley's letter mentioned that she would like:  a dolly, maracas and a Rapunzel book.  Stephen's wishes were:  Gup X (from Octonauts), a Wild Kratts Power t-shirt and a Sea life book.  

Santa must have received their letters in time.  All of the above mentioned items appeared under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.  Hooray!

Meet McKinley's new dolly, Lillian.  She has been following McKinley everywhere the past two days. She even puts her in PJs at night and has her sleep in her bed with her.  They look a lot alike.

Here's Stephen hoping he doesn't have to keep smiling for pictures.  He loves opening presents.  Who doesn't?

McKinley loved her Rapunzel tower.  Flynn Rider was inside too.  No Mother Gothel.  Thank
goodness!

                                    Wow!  Have you ever since so many princesses in one box?

                  What could be in this tall box?  Oh my, could it really be...a pair of skis for me?

Yippee!  I'm ready to go!

Wait for me; I'm coming too!

The firewood rack that you see was made for Ray.  It was made out of birch wood by a friend of ours named Bobby D.  Last week I felt a prompting to ask Bobby to make this gift for Ray.  Ray loves firewood and brings it in every night before bed for our morning fire.  I described to our friend the dimensions, the shape, color, etc.  I never gave him a drawing or diagram.  Fortunately, he had a vision of how to create it.  Bobby D is blind.  

I had seen some of his wood work before and knew he had the tools and the skill to do it.  After he finished the rack, the missionaries went and picked it up to deliver to me at 6:30am on Christmas morning.  Ray was still asleep, so my secret Santa plan was going to work.  The only problem, our secret Santa was Elder Fiani from Samoa.  (He could be the defensive lineman for any football team and crush all of his opponents. )  He tiptoed as lightly as he could up our front stairs to the porch (while carrying the rack), but with every step, you could hear "crunch," "crunch," "crunch."  After he made his get away, Ray came out of our room and said to me:  "Did you hear footsteps on our front porch?"  I said:  "It must have been Santa; now go back to bed."  He obeyed.  : )

Ray was thrilled with the gift and was amazed that Bobby made it for him.

We both called Bobby to thank him for his gift and tell him how beautiful it turned out.  He was so  to happy to be a part of this secret Santa gift.

I am grateful for our friendship with this man.  Last week, as I drove by his home, I saw him outside sanding wood on a sawhorse at -10° with bare hands.  I knew exactly what he was working on.  I was moved to tears as I thought of the love and sacrifice he was putting into this gift for Ray.  Our friend, who is blind, taught me how to truly see the love of our Savior this Christmas.  Thank you Bobby!

It's a 'jolly holiday' with Mary!  Ray surprised us with tickets to Mary Poppins at the Performing Arts Center in Anchorage.   He had set out clues for all of us.  I received a black umbrella, Stephen had a penguin and McKinley had a parrot.  We added our clues together and some how, I figured out that we were going to Mary Poppins.  The kids love that movie.  It will be a fun family night.

Today, the kids pulled their skis to the lake in the neighborhood.  It was a great adventure full of smiles and falls.  But, for the most part, they stayed on their feet.  They did not have a set trail to follow, so I decided that tomorrow I will break a trail with my skis so that they can stay in the groomed path. Ray and I just wore our snow boots today so we would be able to help the kids as needed.  Fun times!

Let it snow!  Let it snow!  Let it snow!

Happy Holidays!