The Season was Jolly.

As I fired up my computer tonight on the desktop is a picture of my family right before trick or treating on Halloween. I couldn't help but think about how that seemed like just yesterday. I remember going to the Mall the very next day after Halloween and seeing the Christmas decorations going up.  Wow, time really does fly when you re having fun.

I had, without question, the best Christmas to date.  One of the traditions my parents started not too long ago was going to the mall on Christmas Eve. We liked to go and sit and watch all the craziness. Brooke and I took the girls and to our surprise both Reagan and Caroline wanted/got their ears pierced.  It was the start of a day I will never forget. I should say I actually didn't get much for Xmas.  I opened  a total of 7 presents, 3 of which I knew what they were, 1 of which was incorrect.  When it came to gifts, I don't have much to write home about.  The best gift I got was one from Brooke.  She took some of my best SAE and Trinity T-shirts and had it made into a quilt. For a guy who used to obsess over opening gifts, I didn't care that I didnt have much to open.  I loved watching everyone else open their stuff.  Much of which I worked hard to get for them.  It is sort of like a home improvement project you did yourself.  There is more gratification in that.  I will say the best gift I got over all was having my folks at my house on Christmas Eve.  To share that time with them, to have them stay at our house, was truly a special gift.  To have Dad read Twas the Night Before Christmas to my girls, will be a moment I will cherish forever.  The next day, those girls were amazing.  Reagan had the best reaction you could ask for to every gift she opened.  Caroline desperately wanted a Buzz Lightyear.  Every time you got near the box he talked and she couldn't for the life of her figure that out.  When she heard it, she acted like it was God speaking to her or something.  Origin unknown. Baylor Grace took a while to get into the swing of things but by the time we got to the end of things she knew exactly want to do.  Baylor can oopen and hand out gifts with the best of them.  She got this motorized hamster and spent all morning yelling..."WHERERUUUU?"  (her first sentence) when it got out of sight.  By 11 she was totally worn out and ready for a nap.

We then went to Louisville for Dinner and had a great evening with Patrick, Sarah, and her father.  The girls was super excited to see them and play at MaMaws and PawPaws.  We woke up this morning, drove to Nashville, and the girls spent all afternoon playing with their Cousins.  After 4 gift opening sessions, they are knocked out cold- even Brooke is asleep.  It will be bittersweet when we get home to Lexington because the house will look like it did when we left it Christmas day, but it will be a long time again before we listen to Christmas music.  The girls will grow up even more, and with any luck there will be another girl to our family next Christmas.  Thankfully I will get another year of them believing and another year of magic.  I can only hope that the "through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow." 

I have learned a lot since becoming a father, a lot of my education is inspiration for this blog.  Every day teaches me something new.  The one lesson that I learn on a repeating daily basis is that I am extremely lucky.  Things that used to matter simply don't.  Things that matter now, trump everything.  So when the days get hard this year, when things go wrong, I will think about these past few weeks.  I will think of the music, the decorations, the songs (which the girls now sing), and the time spent with my loved ones. Those thoughts of the past and hopes for similar times in the future will get me through the hard times. 

Thanks to everyone who made it possible.  Most of all, I thank God for giving me the those in my life- they (you) are truly the best gift.