Christmas Is In The Air

Since my last blog post there has been a lot of time with Gramma and Grampa, Aunt Abbie, playing around the house, bike rides, wrapping presents and preparing for Christmas Eve. Here's Grampa being a good sport playing the Chuggington game with Koen.I got to take a spin at it the next morning (with a little helper of course).Tavin and Doug built a nice train track Friday morning. Tavin loved having some tracks to himself (and a special treat to build it in the living room).Later Tav got to do Play-Doh with Gramma.Last night Koen and Doug prepped the hot appetizers for the lunch party we had today. Koen was actually quite the pair of extra hands and helped Doug a lot. They did blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. Doug pitted the date and then Koen stuffed it with blue cheese, then Doug rolled it in bacon and finally Koen stabbed it with a toothpick. Quite a team!Look at the concentration!So today is Christmas Eve! I, unfortunately, woke up feeling really bad. Not sure if it was a fluke or this stomach bug going around, but either way, I was not myself. With the help of mom, dad and Abbie (Doug left before we were awake to get to church and prep) I did make it to the lovely Christmas Eve service at North Way Oakland. Afterwards, we hosted those from the worship team who wanted to join us all for lunch. It was quite a feast! Unfortunately, I spent almost the whole time in my bed watching a movie due to feeling lousy. I heard though that my boys were quite the little hosts (and my parents and Abbie were so helpful to Doug). Tavin warmed up to a few guys playing with some things on the floor.I guess Koen was a hit at the table keeping up with the adult conversation and causing quite a few laughs. Koen definitely has a mini-adult side to him that comes out amidst a lot of adult company. Really fun!

Tonight Doug got home in time to lay Koen down. Doug came loaded down with so many lovely gifts from different staff and church members. We feel so loved! Doug got a scarf from one friend and he tried it on Koen. Koen got so embarrassed with all of us watching. It was so cute.After Doug unloaded all those sweet gifts, we headed in to the living room to let Koen open one gift. He was so excited! He opened a beautiful book from Aunt Megan and Uncle Nate. Such thoughtful godparents!The book is, "Song of the Stars, A Christmas Story." We jumped right in and read it. I thought it was a great way to end our night and prelude tomorrow bringing the focus back on baby Jesus, the best gift of all. Nate and Megan, thank you for the book. It was perfect for reminding us of the wonder and joy that Jesus brings to this world and that that is really what Christmas is all about.