Well, Christmas is officially over for 2009. It’s a sad thing, I agree. But I’m looking forward to Christmas 2010…not gonna lie. It was a good Christmas for me. How was it for you? I hear some feedback from faithful readers (thanks again for reading this! It’s just my thought process of things that God shows me and I really don’t think it’s much of a good read, but I mostly do it because it helps me remember when I write things down and tell others about it…it’s like self-teaching). SO…how was your Christmas? What did you do? What was your favorite gift? Tell me about it! I’d love to hear.
Mine was really good. It was pretty chill, but busy. Both my grandparents have passed away near a Christmas. My Poppi died in December 2002 and my Nanni died in December 2007. Last year we went to Disney World for Christmas…which was SO great!! I miss the warm sun. Christmas’ growing up were always fun. We’d always do the same thing. Everything we did was a tradition. I grew up with 11 cousins all around the same age. It was super fun! So every Christmas we would open our presents Christmas Eve night…because it’s my mom’s birthday too! We would first go to the Candle Light service at church, I’d wear my brand new fancy Christmas dress, and then we’d go home for a light dinner, followed by a short devotional about the real meaning of Christmas and then present opening time! I never knew that the rest of the world opened their gifts Christmas morning. Christmas Day, we would head over to my Grandparents farm to meet up with the rest of the extended family on my dad’s side. It was fun. The cousins would automatically start running around the house like crazy, the women would be cooking the food, and the dad’s would be talking or watching a movie or football. After everything was settled and the food was fixed, we’d all sit down (kids at the kid table…which of course was the loudest) and eat the lovely dinner that was prepared which would sometimes be turkey, but mostly ham. Confession: I hate ham. Have never liked it. And we had it this year…sorry mom, but I just don’t like ham…but hey, I ate it anyway, didn’t I? After dinner, the kids would need to work off the energy so we would again be running around the house like crazy. Most of the time, we’d head outside to head out for an adventure in the massive backyard and around the barn my grandparents had. If it snowed, we’d make a snowman or a fort. When the kitchen was clean and leftover’s put away, we’d all head in the living room to listen to Poppi give his devotional. Have to admit, I don’t remember any of them…wish I did now though. (Note to all those who still have g-parents still alive…LISTEN TO THEM!!! I miss mine terribly) When the devotional was over, we’d FINALLY open presents! The moment the kids were all waiting for. My dad has three brothers so all the dad’s would be over in a corner with their tripods and newly bought camcorders making sure they caught every future embarrassment that could happen. And let me tell you…embarrassments they have become. Ugh…note to self…don’t let any future boyfriends see these…must burn. 
It’s funny to watch the home videos…most of the time, the camera is pointed to the floor, goes blank for a minute and then comes back to some random spot in the middle of opening presents, has background noises of the dad’s talking, and crazy chaotic confusion of unwrapping going on in the forefront. Thankful for the videos though.
We haven’t had a Christmas like that in a long time. I think the last one was in 2006. Seems like forever ago. I miss them. I miss the craziness of all the family getting together. I miss (terribly) my grandparents. I love big families and hope to have a big family of my own someday. Our family hasn’t gotten together for a Christmas in such a long time. Last year, we were able to meet up with my Uncle Bob’s family because they now live in Orlando. (I now have a place to stay if I ever get down there!!) So this year, it was just us five. We made it fun though.
So, what did I do for Christmas? Thanks for asking!! We did our usually dinner at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, Michigan. The city of Frankenmuth is the weird place in Michigan that is strictly devoted to the culture of…I guess, Germany? Not really sure. But it’s also know for being Christmas ALL YEAR LONG. Seriously.
This is my mom with Santa. (SANTA!!!!! I KNOW HIM!! awesome movie reference, please tell me you know it) Well, since it was my mom’s birthday, she had to get a picture with Santa…ok, she didn’t really want to, buuuut we made her.
Picture of the birthday, girl!
The fam at dinner. We get the same thing every time: family chicken dinner with all the fixen’s. We talk about the same things: how David loved the soup that would come first and Nanni would give him her’s because she didn’t like it, and how when Mandy was a baby, one year all she did was cry and Poppi was the only one that didn’t get up to hold her. He got to eat his dinner in peace while the rest of them had to take turns. (seriously, we’ve been coming there since before I was born…yeah, long time)
After the chicken has been devoured, we look forward to the best part of the meal…frozen yogurt with a cookie. The choices are Vanilla, Sherbert, or a Swirl (this year, they had Cranberry). I don’t like anything orange so I stuck with Vanilla.
They give us the plastic figures in the yogurt too. Nanni would always take them home with her. 
I have no idea what she was planning on doing with them…I don’t think she ever did.
After lunch was over, we’d head downstairs to purchase their amazing jam’s and bread for later…and too look around the toy shop, just for kicks.
David looks happy, doesn’t he?
After that, we’d head over to Bronner’s. What’s Bronner’s? Well, it’s an ALWAYS Christmas store…all year long, it’s Christmas in this store. Christmas literally thew up in this store.
For all my Michigan friends, you know exactly what I am talking about, but for my DC and other friends…you will only know truly what I am talking about by experiencing it. There is really nothing else like this place. With all the twinkling lights, hundreds of different Christmas trees, a million themed ornaments, and every kind of Santa Clause you can lay your eyes on, there is really nothing like this place. It’s great! Every year we come here after dinner to pick out an ornament. We first wander around and look at all the many things they have…I don’t think I still ever can get my bearings in this store…sometimes I can’t figure out how I came in and where the exit is. It’s SO confusing.
I mean, if Christmas didn’t throw up here, I don’t know where it went.
Well Mandi and David were bums and didn’t pick out an ornament…but I did! I was thinking about getting all my roommates a bird ornament (sorry, girls, I decided not to go that route…so no ornament for ya’ll). When I was looking for their ornaments, I came across the one. It’s a bright blue ball with peacock on it.
So don’t get me wrong, I’m not into peacock’s. In fact, I’m not into any kind of animal print or logo or anything like that. But there’s a reason I picked this one. See, Mr Bronner, the guy that owned this store (he passed away this year), was a Christian. And this store is entirely centered around the real reason of Christmas (ok, minus a few Santa Clause’s here and there). When I picked up this beautifully colored ornament, I noticed a tag connected to it. It reads:
Symbol of the Peacock
Known as the bird with one hundred eyes because of the iridescent, eye-like patterns in tis beautiful tale,
the peacock is a symbol of the all-seeing omniscience of God.
Also a symbol of immortality,
it was believed that the flesh of the peacock never spoiled.
After molting, a peacock’s feathers are replaced by even more beautiful ones,
illustrating the concept of resurrection.
Beautiful, right? I simply had to get this one. I did not know that about the peacocks. It’s amazing how God will put his character into his own creatures to let us know that he made them, he is sovereign over their will, he is the one true God and King over all the earth and all things are under his feet. Such a beautiful picture, I think.
Yikes! It’s almost 2am and I have to drive back to DC tomorrow…(not looking forward to that).
Well, thanks again for reading this. Please let me know what you did this Christmas!
