Christmas Joy

I should have known that Christmas was going to be different this year. Pastor Grant was preaching on Expecting the Unexpected, and God tends to hijack his sermon series to make a point. Every plan I had made for Christmas went out the window when the snow started. I never finished the last of the stocking stuffers (not a big deal) and the kid's teachers won't get their presents until January. I'm a bad Mommy because I didn't take my kids to see Santa. My Dad and Step Mom never made it up here, and my Mother in law postponed Christmas until Dan gets home. We normally have 6 Christmas's to attend, and so far we have only done 3. I have to say that it made the holidays more relaxing, but I was really disappointed at first. As you know we are a family of traditions, and when you break from tradition it's frustrating.
Christmas Eve we had so much snow that I couldn't get the van out of the garage. I tried to fire up the tractor, but it wouldn't start. So I had to drive Dan's truck. I don't like to drive Dan's truck, and have only done it a few times. I loaded the kids into the truck to head over to my Grandparent's house, and Lily asked who was driving. I told her I was, and she said, "You can drive Daddy's truck?". When we were almost there Lily stated from the back, "Mommy, you CAN drive Daddy's truck!". The roads were compact snow and ice, so I didn't like driving, but we made it safe and sound. Nate is to the age of questioning the whole Santa thing, and wanted to leave a spy camera out to watch for Santa. Christmas morning we woke up to snow falling. It was truly beautiful with all the tress covered in snow. The kids woke me up at 6:30 am, and I told them to leave me alone until 7am. At 7:01, Nate was in my face waking me up. The kids were excited and opened their presents and stockings. I loved Lily's reaction to her Swim to Me Puppy, "It's just what I wished for!". Here's a picture of our back yard early Christmas morning.
We headed over to my Mom's Christmas morning, and the kids were excited to see their step-cousins. The sun came out and they all played in the snow. My brother Marty and family took 4 hours to get to Mom's, but they finally made it. I totally skipped Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Stauffer's because of the snow on the roads. Here's a picture of us opening presents, this is only half the room, but you can see the chaos. (No, I'm not picking my nose, just ignore me).

I learned a lesson this year. I can't plan everything! I need to learn to relax and take everything as it comes. The world did not stop because I didn't do cinnamon rolls (Dad is the only one who eats them anyway!), and the kids never missed seeing Santa. I need to get over my guilt of not making it out to the Stauffer's (sorry Grandma and Grandpa!). We do have two more Christmas's to do, so we are not done yet. Question is, do I have to keep my tree up until January 18th when we do Christmas with Dad?