Fun Filled Chaos: MERRY CHRISTMAS

It felt a bit strange waking up on Christmas morning knowing that everyone in my family is just getting ready for bed. My sister and her children are just setting out their cookies and milk for Santa while were getting ready for breakfast. This year we all did the cooking together, no one person taking over my Dad's job. Tyson was very excited to crack the eggs, as always. He was so cute when he came running into our room right before sunrise, quietly jumping up and down to let us know that Santa had come. I was very proud of him when he agreed to crawl into bed with us to try to get a few more hours of sleep before opening his gifts.

When we did wake up, he was allowed to open his stockings before we made breakfast. He was so excited to get some new cars; some candy and an alligator game that he has been playing with almost none stop. Backing up a bit, last night after we laid out his plate of goodies, we gave him a bag to put out, along with his Santa key. I told him it was a new Korean tradition that I had heard somewhere. I explained that you were supposed to put out a bad for Santa in case he brought a gift that he was unable to wrap. He seemed excited about it and eagerly hung it on the door. After his stockings, this was the first thing he wanted to open. In it he found a new fish tank with rocks, a little house and a few trees. He was a bit puzzled as to why there were no fish in it, so I explained that if Santa tried to bring fish, they would have frozen in the sleigh. He laughed and I told him that after breakfast we could go to Home Plus to pick out some new friends. We have made it a tradition in our house for the past few years to open only a few gifts in the morning before heading out to spend the day visiting with family and friends. Only after it was dark and we could turn on all the lights, would we finish opening our gifts. So after breakfast we bundled up and headed to the store. It felt very odd being able to go shopping on a major holiday, but because they don't really celebrate Christmas much here, noting was closed. After finding four new fishy friends, we headed to the grocery store to pick up our Christmas dinner. Since there is no oven here, there would be no turkey or ham for us. Instead we enjoyed a perfect batch of shrimp pea wiggle. After the sun just started to set, we sat around and opened the rest of our gifts. Jeff got two new monopoly games, along with two ties from Tyson, a bottle of colon from one of his students and a coffee set from another student. Tyson got two different Lego sets from students along with a new Iron Man robe and Buzz Light-year blanket from Daddy. He also got some new Transformers, and a building block set from me. He was not too crazy over the clothes, but he warmed up to them when I explained that Papa had ones just like them. I think by far his favorite gifts had to be the new train set and soccer ball Santa brought for him. All in all it really was a great Christmas and even though the rest of my family was far away, I am very happy that I had my two boys to spend it with!!!

Our new family ornament to remind us of our travels to Korea.