Merry Christmas

We had a very Merry Christmas together as a family. We were thankful that Lynnea was able to spend it with us at home. On Wednesday (12/23) we opened gifts at our house as a family because Corey worked both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Bergmann's house to open gifts with them. Christmas Day we went to church in the morning, and then over to Grandma and Grandpa Callison's house in the afternoon to spend some time with them. The girls both enjoyed opening gifts this year, though they were both pretty impatient when it came time for us to try to get the toys out of the packages! Ashlyn was very happy to help Lynnea open any of the gifts that she may have been struggling with, and Ashlyn also felt the need to check out all of Lynnea's toys to make sure that they worked. In all fairness, this was a two way street -- Lynnea was just as interested in most of Ashlyn's toys as she was in her own. It was nice to see the girls playing together with some of the new toys. We are all very thankful for all of the generous gifts that we received from family, friends, and people that we have never even met. All of this helped make this Christmas special for all of us.

Before Christmas, Ashlyn went Christmas shopping with Grandma and Grandpa Bergmann to buy presents for everyone in her family. As they approached the cash register, Ashlyn evaluated the shopping that they had done and then desperately told the cashier that they had gotten gifts for Mommy, Daddy, and Lynnea, but they hadn't bought a gift for Jesus. She asked the cashier what she should get baby Jesus for his birthday because she didn't think that it was right to not get him a present for his birthday. After discussing this with Grandma and Grandpa, and then again with me and Corey when she got home, Ashlyn finally decided that it would be OK to just give Jesus a card with some money in it so that he could buy whatever he wanted for his birthday. She excitedly placed her gift in the offering plate on Christmas morning. She was an example to us all of what Christmas is really about, and how we should all feel about celebrating Jesus' birth.

We continue to enjoy our time at home as a family through the rest of this holiday season, while anticipating Lynnea's next open-heart surgery, which is currently scheduled for January 12 at 1:30pm.