When I was 5, Christmas meant gifts! When I was 15, Christmas meant giving, so long as I got gifts. When I was 25, Christmas really was about giving. Now that I'm 30 ( with 31 looming just 3 days away and an almost 2-year-old-son) it really, really, truly about giving.
It's so amazing how Christmas evolves each year that you celebrate it. About 3 years ago (2008) Stephen and I were looking face-to-face with our very first Christmas alone. Just the two of us. We thought it would be special and romantic; in a way it was, but in another very real way it was not.
We found that we were alone, separated and a bit left out of what our families were experiencing. Anyone who's ever experienced a major holiday away from their extended family can relate...which, sadly, is quite a few families in wake of what we've experienced lately (military wise).
As a response, we resolved never to spend a Christmas "alone" again without making it adventure in some way.
The following Christmas (2009), we planned a trip to the German Alps and were expecting our child within a few months. In 2010, we again took a trip to the German Alps during Thanksgiving (with son and my in-laws happily in tow) and then enjoyed our son's first Christmas at home. This year, we are headed (no surprise) to the German Alps the day after Christmas and are quite looking forward to it. It seems that we've started our own family tradition!
Today, we throughly enjoyed watching our son voraciously ripping into his Christmas gifts that came from grandparents, Aunt, Great Aunt/Uncle and mom & dad. We were thrilled to see the joy he derived from discovering and triumphing over the new challenges laid before him.
The day was truly a balancing act. With a nearly-2-year-old, one must decide when too much "new" has been enough. In fact, we reached the "too much new" phase about 10 am this morning when he was ready for some alone time in his room and fell asleep for a 2 hour nap (he usually naps around 2pm). We were then left with an over-stimulated, over-excited young'in in the afternoon. Thankfully, video-calls to both sets of parents and the God-parents gave Zac the outlet he needed for the afternoon energy surge.
After dinner (Enchiladas: A Watson tradition I am LOVING!), we played a rousing game of "which parent is craziest, which eventually lead to exhaustion. As it stands now, we just need Papa to pack his bag and get a cache of snacks and we'll be ready for our 2011 adventure in the Alps.
This year we've got a gorge hike planned. Thanks to global warming, the Alps have seen record lows of snowfall, which means sledding is out; but hiking is in! Stay tuned for photos and stories of our latest adventures.
With our story told, we hope, from the bottom our our hearts, that you have throughly enjoyed the best Christmas of your life!
Look forward to 2012 because it's going to be an amazing year!!!
(Photos coming soon!!!)
