It was a different Christmas.
Olivia was sick with the flu the week before Christmas and we think the fever on Friday launched her into an outbreak of hives the next morning. So instead of heading out early Saturday to Pittsburgh for a weekend of family fun with the Wachtel clan, we stayed home carefully watching Olivia's rash come and go.
She was sorely disappointed, and even more so after waking up on December 24th with more of the same. (It was her year to put baby Jesus in the manger at Grammy's)
"We can't go, can we" she said deep in thought.
"No, honey we can't"
to which Olivia quickly replied, "But Mommy, it's not Christmas without cousins!"
We were all a bit dissappointed. A week of being at home made us all look forward to going for a fun weekend away.
We regrouped (okay, after a day of vegging in front of movies) and discovered new and old ways of doing Christmas.
I often remember my Christmas in Japan -- a totally different holiday without family and familar traditions, but wonderfully special because in Japan Christmas is a non-national holiday Christians celebrate and they do so with JOY.
So this year, instead of Grammy's meatballs, we fixed steaks. (Steak and Lamb all in one weekend! yipee!) Olivia put our tiny baby Jesus in the manger at home (along with a few plastic figures of her own). In place of watching the Steeler game with family we played Solitaire and did some puzzles and watched the Walton's Thanksgiving (we probably had more fun on this count ). And in early January Ben & Olivia will create their knockout gingerbread houses that they'll brag about next year.
In the end we missed being with Erica, Jarod, Josh, Michael, Joslyn and Annalise (and also AJ, Anna, Sammy, Josh & Abby in Ark), but we decided that having 4 days to be home together was almost like going on vacation (well, all but the rashes, worrying and calls to the doctor). And Eric and Amy got to bed before midnight with 99% of the presents wrapped (A ... FIRST... perhaps progress comes with slowing a bit? )
We had a different Christmas ... without cousins, and we discovered that it could still be Christmas.
Olivia was sick with the flu the week before Christmas and we think the fever on Friday launched her into an outbreak of hives the next morning. So instead of heading out early Saturday to Pittsburgh for a weekend of family fun with the Wachtel clan, we stayed home carefully watching Olivia's rash come and go.
She was sorely disappointed, and even more so after waking up on December 24th with more of the same. (It was her year to put baby Jesus in the manger at Grammy's)
"We can't go, can we" she said deep in thought.
"No, honey we can't"
to which Olivia quickly replied, "But Mommy, it's not Christmas without cousins!"
We were all a bit dissappointed. A week of being at home made us all look forward to going for a fun weekend away.
We regrouped (okay, after a day of vegging in front of movies) and discovered new and old ways of doing Christmas.
I often remember my Christmas in Japan -- a totally different holiday without family and familar traditions, but wonderfully special because in Japan Christmas is a non-national holiday Christians celebrate and they do so with JOY.
So this year, instead of Grammy's meatballs, we fixed steaks. (Steak and Lamb all in one weekend! yipee!) Olivia put our tiny baby Jesus in the manger at home (along with a few plastic figures of her own). In place of watching the Steeler game with family we played Solitaire and did some puzzles and watched the Walton's Thanksgiving (we probably had more fun on this count ). And in early January Ben & Olivia will create their knockout gingerbread houses that they'll brag about next year.
In the end we missed being with Erica, Jarod, Josh, Michael, Joslyn and Annalise (and also AJ, Anna, Sammy, Josh & Abby in Ark), but we decided that having 4 days to be home together was almost like going on vacation (well, all but the rashes, worrying and calls to the doctor). And Eric and Amy got to bed before midnight with 99% of the presents wrapped (A ... FIRST... perhaps progress comes with slowing a bit? )
We had a different Christmas ... without cousins, and we discovered that it could still be Christmas.
