Home for the Holidays

Christmastime at the Johnson house is a several day affair.

Mostly because Christmas Eve is also my Daddy's birthday. So there's all kinds of celebrating going on.

Christmas Eve morning I woke up to a precious lil 20-month-old singing her ABC's and chattering about Santa and his reindeer. We spent all day playing the day before and she intends to pick up right where we left off. She dances around to Christmas carols and helps us wrap up the last of the presents. "Presents!!!" she says. Over and over and over.

Also, by some strange turn of events, it was snowing in Texas on Christmas Eve. Yes. Snowing. Not sleeting. Not wintery mix. Real snow. It started around noon and came down hard all day long until well after dark. I am baffled by snow in Texas in December. Especially when the day before was about 73 degrees and rainy. Huh?

But even though the snow didn't really stick to the ground until later at night, it didn't stop us from going outside to enjoy it...

"Sloan, what do you do in the snow?"
She sticks out her tongue and turns in circles to catch snowflakes. "Ahhhhhh"
I. Adore. Her.

We spend the day cooking yummy treats for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day festivities. We wrap up the last of the presents and even venture out to the grocery store for last minute supplies.

We all pile into the cars for the Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at church. We sing about Jesus and Bethlehem and we're all reminded the true meaning of this holiday.

We spend the night jamming out to Christmas music. Daddy opens his birthday presents. Sloan opens her new basketball goal from Nai Nai and GrandBuddy. She opens her "Hello Hook 'Em" book from Me and Les. "Hook Em" she says. Over and over and over. She almost has more fun with the torn paper than the goal. Her excitement is infectious!

And then the real fun begins. Game night. This year we played Pictionary. Les and I always dominate at Pictionary. I'm not sure why they still take us on. We quickly take the lead against Mom / Dad and Uncle Jay / Susan. They still think we cheat. But it's legit. I swear. We are just that good. The entire game is hilarious, frequently involves raised voices and always guarantees a good time. Dad retraces his drawings while Mom continues to guess blindly. Jay draws squiggly lines that may or may not represent the United States? Me and Les keep it simple. That's the key to success. This year's winner? "Numb." Yep. I drew Numb. And she got it right. You can just call us Pictionary Champions.

And tomorrow, Christmas Day, Mom and Dad will wake us up. Because we never wake up on our own anymore. We'll have some Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee. We'll take our time opening our gifts, excited to surprise each other. And then we'll head over to Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Jeff's house. We'll have lots of (read: too much) delicious food. We'll watch football. We might even have Pictionary round 2. There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

And at the end of these few days, this family celebration of Christmastime, filled with our own traditions. It will not have been about us.

It will have all been about Him and the celebration of His birth. The celebration that God sent His son. Immaculately. Humbly. Unglamourously. To sacrifice himself as our savior. And this is the celebration that I can't wait to be a part of each year.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

~ Luke 2:11-14