We spent almost two weeks in Washington with my side of the family. We flew out of Vegas a few days earlier than planned because of a snow storm in our forecast. That's Vegas's forecast, not Vancouver's. Turns out Vegas got hit, and we would have had a long delay had we not left when we did. And turns out Vancouver and Camas got hit hard with snow too. We turned my parents front yard/cul de sac into a sledding course and froze our Vegas bums off.
It was Reggie's first Christmas and our first time playing Santa. We banged the heck out of our hands trying to get the basketball hoop put together and his first little walker. We also got him a sweatshirt and some little stocking stuffers. I think that year Brandon got me a hairbrush and some pens to mark my scriptures. I got him some M & M's, cashew pieces, and a library book. Seriously, a library book. Part of me felt like laughing when he opened it in front of my family and the other part felt like crying. I think I was able to laugh. Thankfully.
And that's what has been standing out in my memory today--how little we had. Now, only three short years later, we have presents spilling out from under our tree. There's wiggle room in the grocery budget for me to buy treats for the kids' countdowns and Christmas candy dishes and neighbor gifts. We can buy our kids warm clothes instead of having my mom pick up some sweats and long sleeved shirts so they don't freeze in unexpected snow storms.
Now to the point because I want to make sure I'm clear. I feel so blessed. So so blessed. We had hardly anything to give, except what mattered most--love for each other, faith in God, and gratitude for the birth of our Savior. And from our generous families on both sides, we got what we needed and some of what we wanted. That goes for Christmas day, as well as our whole time in grad school. We couldn't have made it without their support.
And now, we've made it through school and somehow, miracles of miracles in this economy, Brandon has a job that allows us to provide for ourselves and save for the things we dream of. It's more than we had three years ago and certainly more than lots of people around us.
In looking back, I feel so grateful for that Christmas and for the Christmases since. I'm grateful for the blessings of then, the blessings of now, and everything in between.
And I've totally been bawling like a baby while writing this. Time to stop. :)
4 comments:
Oh what a sweet post! I am so glad all of your family's hard work has paid off, and yet you still recognize the blessings. You have always had such a good attitude! You deserve every ounce of happiness. And blame pregnancy for the crying. Then after that post pregnancy hormones, and sleep deprivation. I think moms get a good few years of emotion- blame on all of that :)
I cried the whole time I read it. We are so blessed to have you in our family--I am so grateful that you put up with all the school and all the poverty and didn't complain. Merry Christmas--thanks for bringin a little more of the spirit into the season.
Love it.
We feel so spoiled too. Thanks for sharing these thought. It helps to bring out the true reason behind the holiday. Glad that things are a little easier on you too!
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