Merry Christmas Eve

Over the past few years there have been some pretty amazing gifts show up around our home. We all have that dream Christmas present we hope to one day see under the Christmas tree, or maybe in our driveway. Those dream presents may be something small or quite big, we all have our desired wish.

Thirteen years ago, we were waiting the arrival of our first child…due in March 2007. Little did we expect that only a week after Christmas I’d be hospitalized with pre-eclampsia, and our son would arrive 2 months early. What a post-Christmas surprise that one was! Talk about a very small present too, he was such a tiny baby. We were blessed with a very early, yet very healthy first child. A couple years later we would celebrate another Christmas with a newborn, but this one arrived full time in October.

Four years ago I actually got my dream Christmas present. I would think it is on every kid’s Christmas list at some point to get that puppy for Christmas, goodness knows it was always on mine. On Christmas Eve of 2015, I was up at 4am, on a flight by 7am to El Paso, Texas, then drove for 9 hours back to San Antonio to delivery a new Afghan Hound puppy to our house. We adopted him from a rescue in El Paso and were determined to have him home for Christmas. I finally had my #1 Christmas Bucket List item, a puppy under the tree. These four years later, we laugh almost daily at what a character Maximus (lovingly known as Moose) has been as he truly runs this house, when he has time to get off the sofa to let us know what he wants to do.

Last year was the ultimate sewing machine for Christmas when my husband bought me the Pfaff Creative Icon for my present. I love that machine. Since I work part time I don’t get to put her to work as much as I’d like but oh my does it does a fabulous job! Who knew that the one Creative Icon would soon lead to needing to get her “sister” the Performance Icon and so many other fabulous machines afterwards. Goodness knows the studio has filled up with some great finds.

This year, the boys got me a present that means more to me that what they ever imagine. They got me a new KitchenAid mixer. It’s the 100th Anniversary Queen of Hearts edition. Know why this one means so much? Because as soon as it came out of the box, the youngest and I made our favorite gingerbread cookies. That one new mixer will be used all the time, to make everyday meals, birthday cakes, holiday dinners, and tons of cookies. I will make all these moments with my family, around one super sweet red mixer!

We often laugh that we have reached an age that we get excited about appliances and cleaning supplies. I have found that for Christmas I am more excited about seeing the looks on the kids faces than for opening up a present for myself. I love the joy they show when they hand me the ones they picked out for me. While it’s exciting to see what they have come up with, it means more just to see all the smiles and how proud they are for whatever they have chosen. The laughs, the food exhaustion from all the candy and sugar, and the moments just spent together are the best. Those things alone are what make the Christmas spirit come alive in our house.

May you all have a very Merry Christmas with lots of joy and spirit filling your homes too. Merry Christmas from the Redds.