Christmas thoughts and pics

~ We really did have a nice Christmas this year. I had some mixed emotions. I remember watching the Muppets Christmas Carol last year and wondering how J would react to it. I never dreamed he wouldn't be here for this Christmas. His gifts are here waiting on him. Our O directors set it up so us adoptive parents could call our kids on Christmas day but we were never able to get through. That was sad. This is our third Christmas without our son here. He's been legally ours since May. We've been waiting on a signature to apply for a passport for 7 months. We've been in the adoption process for 27 months. It really shouldn't be this hard to adopt a child. At times I struggled with laughing and having fun here while J sits in an orphanage, separated from his family. And yet, we can't stop living life because he's not here. It's a struggle. I know I don't have to understand, I have to trust God. But it's so hard. I'm thankful J is alive and healthy, in a good O and enjoyed Christmas with his friends. I'm glad we got to send him his gifts. I'm thankful we were able to enjoy Christmas and laugh with family and friends in spite of the pain of our son not being with us. I'm thankful that our friend who was just diagnosed with Guillian-Barre Syndrome was able to get a pass from the hospital and join us on Christmas eve. I'm thankful for the love and support of family and friends. Above all, I'm thankful to God for sending His Son, the greatest gift of all.

~ We joined our friends on Christmas eve which has been a tradition for several years now. We ate, laughed, sang, read the story of the Lord's birth, played "dirty Santa" (where one person opens a gift and then the next person can "steal" it or open another one and on down the line) and opened gifts. T and I were given a set of framed pics of our kids-all of them.

~ On Christmas morning we opened gifts here and then cooked and got ready to go to my brother's house. We ate, laughed, played games and opened gifts. My niece got one of those dance video games. What a hoot! Then the older generation played against the younger generation in Mad Gab. The youngsters won but my ever competitive brother said one more round, winner take all and we beat them. Then we played Need for Speed. I must admit that this is one of my favorite video games. My children have been beating me for years though and I don't play much anymore. Well, the girls whooped the boys. My nephew's girlfriend took top honors in that game. Whoo, whoo, whoo! You go girl! We noticed that A could carry on a conversation about something else and whoop someone at the same time. This is a little scary considering she can get her learner's permit in a few short months! I forgot to add here that the kids also played a karaoke type game where you sing along with it while it shows the words and how well you sing it. It tells you things like perfect, good, bad, awful at the end of each line and you get more points the better you do. My nephew creamed the girls on Britney Speers "Baby, Baby" and Cyndi Lauper "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". Too funny.

~ Here are some pics; This is the tree with gifts under it including J's bike. I can't wait for you to get here, son, and try out your bike. R wanted the dishes. She has been collecting that pattern for 6-8 months now.
This is Dexter on his perch, getting a bird's eye view of the house. And looking down on us, his loyal and attentive servants-oh, I mean his owners.


Misty sleeping in an opened box under the tree. She probably just removed several ornaments and had to take a nap. The cats broke the smoke stack off of the train that goes around the tree.

At our friend's house Christmas eve. We're so glad that M and C could join us. Go M! Kick Guillian-Barre's butt.
Awww, sisterly love. Actually, they must have been telling a secret.
Le cousins, at my brother's house.
Dance revolution. Dance, dance, baby! That's nephew's girlfriend and R.

A and her uncle.

T and my dad. Too funny!

And here is J under the Christmas tree at the O. Thanks to another adoptive mom for taking the pic. He does look happy, doesn't he? We sent those gifts down in October firmly believing that they could take J's name off and give them to someone else because J would be home. Ha! Again, I don't understand it but I just have to trust God.

Hope y'all had a Merry CHRISTmas!

Amy