The best time at Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you've all had a nice holiday season so far. I know I have. For the first time in three years, my mom, dad, sister, and I were able to have our family opening of presents time out in the living room around the Christmas tree instead of all crowded into my bedroom. That was probably the best gift of all this year, for me -- to be out of bed like a "normal" person. This is also partly why it's been so long since my last post -- I've been busy doing things and spending quality time with my sister, Joanna, who's home for the holidays.

It seems like on every talk show I see, someone gets asked about their best Christmas memories, so I thought I might tell you about my favorite part of Christmas growing up. . . Early on Christmas morning, usually before sunup, Joanna and I would get up very quietly and head downstairs to find our stockings and see if Santa and the reindeer had eaten what we left for them. We would turn on the Christmas tree lights and spread out on the living room floor. Then we'd take turns pulling one item out of our stockings to check out and show each other. When the stockings were empty of goodies, we'd start reading the Christmas picture books like The Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Christmas Mouse (which tells the story of how a mouse helped write "Silent Night"). It was so quiet. No tv, no phone, no computer, no parents, not even pets. Just the two of us -- wrapped in blankets, on the floor, before the sun came up, discovering the treasures in our stockings and reading the books we read every year.

I'm afraid that, like the people in Polar Express, we may have lost of a little of that Christmas magic; but we still hear a little of the sleigh bell's jingle when we see what's in our stockings each Christmas. Just the two of us . . . sometime after noon.