I have to admit that I was excited for Christmas 2007 since last years Christmas was so hard. However, I had also prepared myself for the reality that things would not look like they should for a typical 18 month old little boy. So with that in mind I had prepared myself for the holidays.
It is with that prelude that I share our Christmas story with you.....
Kurt had to work, as he usually does, on Christmas Eve until 7:30. He left the house at 2, so I put the kids down for their nap and we prepared to attend the 4:30 Christmas Eve Service at CLA. We sat beside the sound booth so that Daddy could take part in our 'family tradition' as best he could, while still working. It was a great service and we really had a great time.
After the service, I took the kids home and we prepared dinner for when Kurt arrived. Karter had a quick cat nap so that he could stay up and enjoy the opening of the gifts. After Kurt arrived and dinner was eaten, we gathered all the gifts that friends had given our kids and that we had purchased and we started out on the journey of opening. Karter in his walker, was able to take in all the excitement. And we were able to enjoy watching him take it all in. There were many "video moments" as he giggled at pop up books and light up toys and as he watched with delight as his sister ran like crazy all night long.
We have a few traditions as a family on Christmas Eve, the first of which is going to the service at church, secondly, Christmas PJ's, the kids get a pair from us each year. So they opened and sported them through the night. The third tradition is the preparation for Santa. We put out cookies and milk and the kids put them under the tree in the playroom, then off to bed to await Santa's arrival!
Christmas Day started with Paige waking up at 8:00 and running downstairs to check on the Santa tree. After discovering that Santa left gifts and stockings we opened them as a family. We spent the first few hours playing with the gifts that the kids got Christmas Eve and just relaxed before the days festivities began.
At 10:30 we went down to Mom and Dad Eckert's place for brunch and gift opening with Kevin and Julia and their family. Karter opened his gifts and went down for a long nap (5 hours!!!! he must have been exhausted from all the last days excitement).
We had dinner at 4:30 and Karter opened a few more gifts and spent the rest of the evening with the guests that arrived for dinner. He was so happy and interactive, it was really nice to see.
It was really beautiful this year to see Karter participate and enjoy Christmas. My fear was that we were going to have another Christmas where he really did not understand or enjoy the holiday. It was so amazing to be able to see the joy in his eyes and share the laughter with him as he opened gifts and enjoyed the company of so many. What a blessing that was for us, a gift no one could have found in a store for us or spent money on to give us. What an amazing blessing it was!
Things may not be the way we expected them to be when we thought about it two years ago, but all in all, good times and bad, we love our son and would not trade him for anything in the world. I am learning that traditions are what you make them to be not what you expect them to be. Expectation are so easily shattered by the circumstances of life, but traditions are made up of the unexpected things that happen when we allow ourselves to enjoy life. And that is what it is all about, enjoy life the way it happens to you, not expecting anything from it but rather enjoying what presents itself to you. The laughter, the time together, the funny moments; no amount of money, planning or orchestrating of events can ever ensure that things will go "our way". Life just happens the way it does and that it how we need to live it, just as it is.
We hope you enjoyed your holidays as much as we did. For 2008, our prayer is to reclaim the months that have been lost to Karter and to blow the "expectations" that are humanly put on Karter. Here is to another year of living life the way it is!
Many blessings. Kurt, Char, Paige and Karter Witt
3 comments:
Awesome! Sounds like you had a great family Christmas you guys and we are thankful to the Lord for his never ending mercies which are new every morning even Christmas Morning :o)
Blessings Diane
I love the picture of Karter with the car in his hands. His face is typical male face when looking at a hot car. He will have that same face when he turns 16 - 19 - 21 - 45- 60 it never changes hahahahaha
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