Merry CHRISTmas!!

We began our Christmas weekend at Grandma's exchanging gifts with cousins and eating all day. We did something new this year with a hayride down to the "old house" in Grandmother's pasture. When we got to the house, we stopped the ride and the oldest grandchild (A) read the the Christmas story from Luke 2. It was chilly, but a beautiful night for a hayride. The little flashlights the kids had gotten in their "stockings" were perfect for the ride. The kids (and some adults) were a bit restless during the ride and reading, but it was a nice tradition to add to our annual get-together.

Christmas Eve felt a bit strange as we went to church in the morning and had all evening to rest and relax and be together without rushing around for dinner and getting dressed to fight the parking lot crowd at the church. Dad did go up to help with security for some of the evening services, but the kids and Mom had fun watching Christmas specials and just being together at home. They actually made it through a professional ballet production of The Nutcracker and watched it almost in its entirety. G probably enjoyed it the most.

We contained our secret until the final present on Christmas morning. The kids tore open the last box and were perplexed at the purple sparkly collar and leash. Audrey read the letter from their new little friend at the bottom of the box and one by one, the look of realization began crossing their faces. They scrambled to the computer to see more pictures. Dad has named her Heidi (good German name for a Boxer . . .) and the kids have agreed with it, so I guess it will stick.

The breeders continue to send us almost daily picture updates of our new little girl. The kids wanted to see her eyes open and within an hour of sending an e-mail on Christmas morning, we received a new picture showing her eyes peeking open. They're completely open now and looking beautiful. We're told that she's doing exceptionally well and is set to come "home" the first week of February.

When they found out that others already knew the secret, they wanted to know how. I showed them the blog post about the Christmas Secret and let them read. I left them at the computer, and when I came back they were teary. They had continued to read other blog entries on the page. They hadn't read the final one about Lucy until then. Dad joined me with them and we ended up huddled around Dad's laptop crying and missing Lucy on Christmas morning. The day that Heidi gets to come "home" will not get here too soon!