another christmas

another season seems to have passed us by. we hung our stockings  laid our stocking by the wall with care; the children were tucked in their sleeping bags; our yuletide joy will be boxed up in their rubbermade containers for another year. christmas it seems, has yet again come and gone.

i will admit, christmas will never be the same. but christmas this year, was the start of new traditions and marked a turning point in my family's lives.

last year, dads passing was still so fresh in our minds. it had only been 24 days since he died and christmas just wasn't what it should have been. i'm not saying that the reason for christmas was lost on us. no, i'm not saying that at all. it's just, nothing was how it should have been last year. my mom and i flew to gatineau last year to be with my very pregnant sister, and my other sister and her husband were spending christmas with his folks in ontario. christmas day rolled around, my sister was so sick (and so pregnant), my youngest nephew could only eat berries and gelato, and i slept on a camping cot in the fabric/sewing room. for christmas dinner we had surprise spread (a delicious dipping spread with cocktail sauce, shrimp, tomatoes and peppers), and our boxing day dinner was salmon. who has dip and salmon at christmas? and not to mention the fact that the whole family wasn't there. last year was just not christmas.

this year was full of our old traditions. there were 13 of us this year at our house (including the japanese and korean girls that live with us). we had our corn chowder on christmas eve (dad made the best, but mom did a satisfactory attempt this year). my older sister read the other wise man (which was made more entertaining this year by the giggles of my nephews at the mention of the word 'naked'). we all got our traditional christmas eve pajamas (courtesy of santa, the christmas spirit, and donalbain and andrew). we all got up at 9am to open stockings, have breakfast and then dive into the hours of present opening. christmas this year was happy and joyful. we were together as a family, which is how christmas should be.

i am very thankful for many things in my life, but my family is one of the things that i treasure more than anything else. my dad gave me a verse when i graduated. it was colossians 1:9-14. my favourite part of this verse is when it says that through gods great power, we will have the strength to bare anything joyfully. this christmas was joyful. eventhough he wasn't here, as a family, we were able to find the joy in each other and being in each others company.

i have a great family. i miss my dad, especially this time of year, but we managed to have a christmas full of laugher, christmas cheer and love. last christmas was a christmas to forget, but this christmas showed me that our family is strong and that we will be able to bare anything joyfully.