Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all!  What a wonderful day we had sharing lots of time with our family.  My Christmas gift to you all is a little clip that my friend Melissa sent me on Facebook the morning of our Love Actually night.  Unfortunately, Melissa was ill and was not able to attend this year, but, fortunately for all of you, you can enjoy this wonderful spectacle too!  Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7bNingb1A

This time of the year is very hectic for most people as they prepare for the Christmas (or other holiday) festivities.  What I savour the most during the holidays is not so much the turkey, but more importantly the time spent with the family and friends we love so dearly.  Saturday we travelled to Woodstock to visit my mom and exchange gifts and then headed to Mark & Jo-Ann's for an early "Christmas Eve" dinner with my aunts, uncles and cousins.  On Sunday night we went over to Melissa and Glen's to play Five Crowns and Quiddler which happen to be synonymous with wine & fine cheese - or is it fine wine and cheese?  Yesterday being Christmas Eve was very exciting for all of us.  I went to Curves in the morning and weighed in at 144.25 lbs.  I would love to reach my next goal by the end of January if not sooner!  St. Trinian's is the next movie incentive!  After I returned from Curves we set off to Toronto for the McGirv's Christmas brunch!  John's Aunt Sue and Uncle Girv always bless us with a delicious feast on Christmas Eve.  Laid before us was a beef dish with the best mashed potatoes I think I've ever tasted accompanied by a medley of unique vegetables.  For dessert I opted for the homemade lemon tart over the chocolate cake!  It was splendid!!  Sue then turned on some music and the kids went wild, dancing up a storm!  It was all great fun!  On the way home, Matthew and Jake had me in hysterics as they read out street signs, store signs, anything and everything they could with a myriad of accents!  Shortly after arriving back in town, we headed off to church for the Christmas Eve service.  Glen and Melissa and their son Griffin joined us.  I had trouble concentrating on the hymns since I was all pent up with excitement.  You see, as soon as the church service was over, we were going to go across the street to meet Molly!  Molly is the new puppy Carla & Steve got for Christmas, and I couldn't wait to meet her!  She is a Burnese Mountain Dog and ever so cuddly!  I had trouble getting to sleep last night because I was so excited about Molly - and she wasn't even mine.  But sleep did win me over eventually, however, briefly!

By 5 am, my boys were wide awake with an excitement all their own!  They know enough not to wake Daddy so early, but I am apparently fair game.  For the past couple of years we have developed our own little tradition whereby they come to get me after they wake up and then we take Rocket (our dog) for a long walk.  I've truly come to treasure this time, just me and my boys, meandering among the neighbourhood streets unbeknownst to all who are still fast asleep dreaming of sugar plums.   The world is so still and quiet this early in the morning.  In fact, this morning Jake was startled by a noise he heard and thought it might be a coyote and became somewhat timid and wanted to set back towards home.  I explained to him that he's not used to the quiet and it was just a furnace or some pipes he heard and he was fine.  To be honest with you, I did start to get an eerie feeling at that point.  We walked past the school and the playground.  It was still very dark out so I suggested they go play on the equipment but they didn't bother wearing their mittens and the air was rather nippy out so we continued on our way.  Once back inside the house, the boys wasted no time at all jumping on John in a grave attempt to wake him up so they could investigate what Santa Claus had brought them during the night.  At 6:50 am, John finally succumbed to their devilry and arose to appease the angelic faces of our three anxious children.  Like vultures honing in on a carcass, so my kids delved into the stockings and gift boxes!

Santa must have been impressed with our behaviour throughout the year and our lifestyle changes must have paid off thus far, as we were all very spoiled this year!  Just look at what Santa brought me!!

Yes, can you believe it?  Santa brought me Colin Firth for Christmas!!  Yeah!!!  I am so excited to begin reading my Colin Firth biography, but when I started to earlier today, I realized that I was too distracted with the kids running around playing with their new toys - and I want to be able to relax and enjoy reading this book in peace without all three kids hanging off my neck!  So, I may save this one for after they return to school in January!  At some point in the afternoon I managed to lie down for a quick nap to revive my energy for when our guests arrived for Christmas dinner.  John's parents, grandparents, my dad, Julie, Jay and little Evie all joined us for the Christmas feast this year.  John makes the turkey, I make the pies and everyone else brings something as well.  Jay made an excellent 'green vegetable bake' that I loved so much I went back for seconds.  I'll have to get the recipe for that one!  Just writing about it is making me salivate thinking of the left-overs in the fridge!  Dad made his famous Christmas pudding with butterscotch sauce again too!  We had a gravy dilemma that eventually sorted itself out, and I'm sure we'll continue to laught about it every Christmas from here on in!  So, now that I am stuffed to the gills, it's time to reflect on the love, excitement and happiness that surrounded our hearts these past few days and be thankful for our family and friends, "Particularly because, if you can’t say it at Christmas, when can you, eh? I’m actually yours, with love. Your [Rebecca]".