Best. Christmas. Ever.

This is the first Christmas that I can remember, where I wasn't disappointed when it all ended. It was probably one of the best Christmases to date, and everyone was satisfied with what they got. Bree, of course, got more than any of us...but seeing her face on Christmas morning was the best present of all!

We started out our Christmas Eve pretty hectic. Nothing is ever organized, or on time on Paul's side of the family. We were supposed to be at his Dad's house around 7, eat a little, open presents, and then go on over to my Parent's house where we were to spend the night. When we arrived at his Dad's house at 7:20, they were vacuuming the floors and putting presents under the tree. Clearly not ready. So, we didn't eat or open presents until well after 8, which put us leaving from there around 10 o'clock. Not cool.

Now, I must admit that Paul and I did not think the "spending the night with Parents" out too well. We had planned to go to Paul's Dad's house, Paul would then take me & Bree and drop us off at my Parent's house, & then he would go back to our house to pick up all of Bree's "Santa" toys. This was a stupid, dumb, not well thought out plan. We ended up using more gas & time than we really had to. I guess though, when you start new things, like spending the night in a different house on Christmas Eve, there are some things you just don't think about. Gas & time were two of those things. But, Paul finally got back to my Parent's house around 1:30 a.m. From there, we proceeded to put together and set up all of Bree's toys.

We didn't get to sleep until well after 3:30. Now, like most people, when I sleep in a different place...I hardly sleep. I maybe got one or two hours of good sleep, and the other 2 hours were spent tossing and turning and trying to go back to sleep. I was thankful that Bree woke up early, because I didn't know how much longer I could lay there watching the sun come up & no one awake to see presents yet. Yes, I was one of those kids who got up at 3 a.m to see the presents. My Mom brought Bree down, and waited until I had my camera ready to bring her into the living room. Her re-action to the new toys wasn't what I had expected. She was more concerned with the fact that her Daddy was laying on the couch where he had slept than the new rocking horse and other great toys that lay before her. Finally though, she put her attention on the toys & that's where her attention remained until later on that night. My Mom & Dad got her the Flintstone Car Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, and we got her the rest. She dug through her stuff, looking at everything, and then tested out the rocking horse before hopping into the Flintstone Car Cozy Coupe, where the remained for the rest of the day. She spent her time wheeling around the house, eating her meals and opening her presents inside that little car while we spent the entire day being lazy. We laid around in our pajamas, playing video games, getting fat eating, watching movies, playing with our new gadgets, trying on our new clothes, laughing at Bree and my brother race each other with the Flintstone Car Cozy Coupe & the Radio Flyer Tri-Cycle, and having not one single care in the world. It was a perfect day.

My Christmas felt complete this year. There was no disappointment or regrets. I wasn't sad to see it end, and I didn't have those after Christmas blues. This Christmas I had my Mama, Daddy, 2 brothers, Hubby & Daughter all under one roof and I know that is what made this Christmas the best Christmas ever!



...Samantha