Christmas at Ben's House

THUMP!

That was the first sound I heard on Christmas morning, as one of the kids opened and then "gently" closed the door to the room where I was sleeping. I have to give them credit, they'd been up for about an hour, waiting for me so they could start opening presents. Meanwhile, I was oblivious. I got up, and then it was "bring on da noise, bring on da funk" for the rest of the day.

I spent Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning with Ben and his family. It was a load of fun, the first time I've spent the day with them for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, Sarah came over and we shared one of their traditions--Chinese take-out for Christmas Eve dinner. I don't know the origins of that one--I couldn't find it in the four gospels anywhere--but it was great. Christmas Eve will never again be complete without Orange Beef and Walnut Prawns.

The kids all got matching pajama bottom pants in a Mickey Mouse pattern from their Grandma R., modeled above by Sam. They changed into those and also were wearing (except Ammon) t-shirts I'd brought back from the Philippines.

On Christmas morning, they opened the rest of their presents. Their Grandma R., Sarah's mom, made an amazing array of beautifully crafted items, a dress for Lura, matching shirts for Sam and Ammon, a bow tie for each of the boys, among others. Gay is an exceptional skilled tailor. They also received some toys, some gifts from each other and from Ben and Sarah. Sam got a new bike--a real beauty. I gave Lura an "American Girl" doll (Kit Kittridge), robot kits for Sam and Ammon, and a set of "Thomas the Train" DVD for Joshua. Sarah made me a cloth grocery bag with a baseball fabric (lined in perfect Green Monster green). Since Seattle will start imposing a $.20 per bag fee on plastic bags in January, that is a very timely and useful gift. She used a regular plastic bag as a pattern--the apple did not fall far from the tree in her household.

After present-opening, Ben and Sarah had prepared a brunch with breakfast casserole, bread pudding, hot chocolate (homemade), muffins, breads and fresh pineapple. Their friends Steve and Apple came over, with their daughter Samalia. The little girl was born at the same time as Joshua and was also very premature, and the two families met when those little kids were in Mary Bridge together for several months. It's been fun to see the two of them develop and grow so beautifully after such a rough start.