The Kinsingers, Christmas 2007
We definitely had the full 12 days of Christmas this year, maybe more! Chris' parents and brothers came to visit for the week before Christmas, then we went to NY on Christmas Eve and stayed through the week after Christmas. We came back here to be with a Minnesota friend for New Year's Eve and she brought a little more Christmas with her!
The celebration with the Kinsingers was a little spread out. Traditionally Chris' family really enjoys giving gifts and Christmas, far from being an exception, is rather the pinnacle of expression of their generous hearts. There were so many presents under BOTH trees (Renee set up hers in the basement) that we decided to let the boys start opening a day early. (Which was actually about 4 days before Christmas.) Here are some pictures of that experience:
Trying on his new PJ's
Thanks for the wrapping paper!
Proudly seated at his and David's new table.
Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Nate, Uncle Luke, and Aunt Renee for the wonderful gifts!
We also had a great time riding the train at White Flint Mall, seeing the trains (and the lights, too) at Brookside Gardens, hearing a choral Christmas concert at NIH, attending Renee's voice students' Christmas recital, seeing our church's Christmas Eve service adaptation of Messiah, eating lots of Christmas cookies, singing Christmas carols together, taking turns reading by candlelight each person's "What I am Thankful For" entry in the family album, and sharing life stories with each other. This last activity was a new one, introduced by Chris, who participated in a similar activity at his much talked about West Virginia leadership training retreat. We really did gain a surprising amount of insight into each others' lives and perspectives. We discovered that siblings really do grow up in very different families!
We plan to continue to catch up on recent happenings, including Christmas with Maria's side of the family in NY and even going back to ancient history to post about the boys' bday party. Stay tuned... the previous post of Joshua in his Grandpa's arms below is a little sneak preview.
