Counting Christmas Blessings

Emily: An Early Christmas Gift
This holiday is a really special one — this is the first Christmas that I'm a real "Auntie Em." My little niece, Oona, surprised her family by being born almost two months early. I like to think that she was so excited to meet her family and be around for Christmas that she just couldn't wait. Thankfully Oona is very healthy and strong — making her the best Christmas present ever — for me and our whole family!
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Shannon: A Magic Moment
It was Christmas Day, 1994. Our oldest, Sabrina, was just 7 months old. We were gathered at my husband's grandmother's house enjoying Christmas morning together. Though I'd been coaching Sabrina for a couple of months, trying to get her to say her first word, she had yet to say anything more coherent than "Gah." I was holding her on my lap, just after nursing her. She looked at me, and clear as day, she said, "Ma-ma" for everyone to hear. You couldn't wrap it in paper or put a bow on it, but that was the best Christmas gift I've ever received, before or since!
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Ame: Giving the Present
My mother, "Mimi" to her grandchildren and "Bootsie" to everyone else, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's this summer. As her memories ebb and flow, we feel a sense of urgency to spend time with her — to be literally present with her. So we are breaking tradition this year, and for the first time, spending Christmas away from our home. Instead of the usual Christmas day spent in PJs while the children leisurely play with their toys, we will be travelers.

While making this decision, I realized that Christmas began with a family pilgrimage — a journey that ended in a humble manger and the birth of hope for the whole world. Inspired by that hope, it is with great love and faith that I embark on a new kind of Christmas journey with my family this year.
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Kim: Playing Santa
For years, our neighborhood hosted an annual Christmas party for the children in our subdivision. It was always a fun-filled evening of pizza, games, and a visit from Santa to distribute our grab bag gifts. But over the years, we realized it was getting more difficult to come up with gift ideas for our children because they all had so much already. Several years ago, we decided to try something new. Instead of buying gifts for each other, we would adopt needy families from the area and buy gifts for them.

We still host the same fun-filled party each year for the kids, but instead of opening gifts, we use that time to wrap gifts for others. At first, we worried the kids would be disappointed, but they truly seem just as excited to give as to receive. They spend hours chattering about the families and how they will react to our carefully chosen gifts as we work. That special evening — spent with our neighbors, playing Santa Claus for those who really need us — has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions.
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Toni: A Blissful Morning
Every year, my very favorite Christmas moment is watching the kids bound downstairs to see what Santa has left for them. On Christmas Eve, we leave Santa a plate of cookies and glass of milk and a carrot for Rudolph, and it's so cute seeing who notices the half-eaten carrot first on Christmas morning. I enjoy making my family's traditional Christmas morning breakfast — an egg gravy my Ukrainian grandmother used to make, served with warm, crusty buttered bread for dipping — and hot coffee. The rest of the day is blissfully low-key: relaxing in our PJs, playing with our new stuff, and counting our blessings.
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