Christmas Present

Our Christmas this year was very quiet. Since Christmas fell on Wed. it was a regular work day for us. Because I had taken so much time off in the summer and fall to attend the funerals of my grandparents, I didn't have any days left to take off for Christmas. I guess I could have asked for an unpaid day, but I just didn't feel right doing it since I had already taken so many unpaid days. I didn't want to impose on the graciousness of my bosses.

On Sunday the 22nd we planned to celebrate with our sweet family The Yoshidas. Rev. Yoshida (Jiji) held a special private service in their home for us. Two of their daughters joined us via webcam from Hokkaido. It was such a peaceful and beautiful service. We sat by the warm fireplace and all took turns reading passages from the Bible. We sang Christmas Hymns and listened to Jiji's special Christmas message. We did not have as much snow there as last week, but it was still a "white Christmas".

After that we had a small Christmas Pageant. The week before Violet and Baba had been talking about the Christmas Story and Violet decided to be the Angel. We ended up acting out the Nativity story a few times. So last Sunday we did the same. Violet was the angel, I was Mary and Gabe was Joseph. We had a babydoll for baby Jesus. Jiji and Baba were the innkeepers. It was such a sweet little pageant and Violet knew exactly how the story was to go. She repeated lines from her favorite Christmas Storybook. It was perfect.

After the pageant we had a beautiful lunch of Chirashizuzhi and soup. Followed by cakes and cakes and more cakes. It was a delicious feast!

Following lunch we played and napped and then we all went to a local onsen for a nice long soak. The water was warm and the view from the beautiful. Violet made a friend in the bath. The walked around the bath together and held hands as the sat in the warm water together. They giggled and played and chased each other around.

After her bath, Jiji bought her an ice cream cone and then we drove back home. Jiji made a delicious pot of Sukiyaki for dinner! We hadn't had it in so long and we all ate until our tummies were full. It was Violet's first time to have Sukiyaki and she said "I suspect that I do like Sukiyaki!"

After dinner we opened gifts and then watched The Sound of Music on Jiji's projector screen. Violet loves TSOM. It is currently her favorite movie. She stood in front of the big screen watching Julie Andrews with a smile on her face. She tried so hard to stay awake through the movie but shortly after 16 Going on 17 she was fast asleep.

She loved sleeping in "her" room at Jiji and Baba's house. And we woke up to Baba's delicious breakfast! After that we played and read some books and Violet played her new hiragana karuta with Baba. She loves to study! Last, we went into town for a delicious lunch of Hitsumi ( a chicken soup with flat dumplings). The snow was falling steadily and the air was crisp. Violet enjoyed catching snowflakes on her tongue and in her hands.

On Christmas Eve we had to work and Violet went to school. She was very upset about that and said "Christmas is for staying home all day and being with your family." I couldn't agree more. After school we picked her up and then went home to change for Christmas Eve church. She was so excited to see her Auntie (Mutsuko) and Aunt Teresa and Ryo. She decided to sit with them and she often turned around to smile at me or ask me a question. "Why do we go to church for Jesus?" "Why do we close our eyes when we pray?" "Why does the Priest wear a robe?" "Where does the money go that we put in the offering" "Why do we sing songs?" ......

After church there was a light dinner party with cakes and sandwiches. She enjoyed that too. When we finally got home it was 9:00pm. She is usually asleep by 8! But since it was Christmas Eve we let her stay up and watch a movie before bed. We watched the story of the Raven and then the Grinch (her favorite Christmas movie this year). She loved the Raven story and wanted to watch it over and over. It was amazing to see her make the connection between the similarities of the story to the story of Christ's birth. After it was over she told us that Jesus is the light.

Christmas morning we woke up and she opened her stocking. I surprised her with a little stuffed Kitty that she has seen in the store and wanted to take home. She was thrilled! And a chocolate cookie shaped like a cat. She is cat crazy!

Then I got up and made some breakfast and we headed out the door. I had to work but Gabe took the day off to spend with her. They had a fun day together and then came to work to get me, She came up to my office and couldn't believe that she "got to pick up a grown up!"

We went home and opened our gifts by the tree. She wanted to play with each thing as soon as she opened it and was content to stop after each gift. We actually didn't finish opening everything because she go to playing and then got tired. We ate dinner and watched a Christmas special.

We crawled into bed and she was asleep before I even finished the 3rd page of Mortimer's Christmas Manger.

Christmas was quiet and we missed our family back home for sure. But we were definitely thankful that we were blessed with another year together. We are looking forward to our winter holiday this coming week. We get a week off for the New Year celebrations.

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing you all Peace, Love and Light!