Christmas Stockings

Mom and Dad’s stockings hang at the very top. Mom hangs the rest of stockings along the banister each year and we gaze with awe at how blessed we are for the family we have. I look at the line-up. Mom, Dad, Tim, Heidi, Heather, Greg; then it moves onto the in-laws and finishes with the line-up of grandchildren. I wondered to myself why the individual families weren’t grouped together, but then it occurred to me.

This is the original family, grouped together at the top. Because of those two stockings at the very top, we got the following four stockings. Those four stockings hung each December in our Mulberry Lane house by nails which were permanently pounded into the stone surrounding the fireplace. Those were the stockings Santa left gifts in each night for the entire week before Christmas. Those were the stockings that started the rest of them.

And so it all makes sense. At the top of the banister, you see the original family- the original 6 of us. And we gaze with awe, at what we have done and how blessed we truly are.

My Long Grove Christmas 2012 Memories

• Dad suddenly taking up an obsession with rodeo
• Mike and Uncle Eric playing a late night game of Angry Birds (game for ages 3 and up)
• Baby Sam waking from nap burning up with fever (good ol’ ibuprofen got him through)
• The fight over the vintage butterfly necklace and the bald baby doll
• The kids’ anticipation of opening the doors leading to the pile of gifts under the tree
• Uncle Tim bouncing on the trampoline like an 8 year old with Cole and Ross
• Greg showing up just in time for Christmas dinner after a full day of coaching
• Receiving a gift which has been passed through the ages, and discovering the meaning of what being family is all about
• The “interrupted” night of sleep Saturday night
• Spending 36 minutes with a couple of my best buds while jogging the streets of Long Grove
• Lying in bed with Heather and Mom, rehashing the events of the day with fits of hysterical laughter as Maisie and Molly fell asleep beside us. 

 

A snapshot of the weekend- through my lens...

Ross and Cole watched Scooby Doo with their legs twisted up like this.

Dad told a joke.

Grandma and Grandpa Green shared a laugh with him.

The kids (not all of them) waiting to open the door to the presents.

GG made dance skirts for the girls

Molly models.

We decided Laura has the sorority pose down. (minus the coozie)

Molly wants to try everything on.

When she grows up, she either wants to be a mommy or a specialty doctor.

 

Dad felt the urge to scare the kids with his fake teeth

Mike ponders his next move in the Angry Birds game.

The Party's Over

9 blessings... found here.