Merry Christmas! Well, the boys were up early this morning and had a blast and that is really all that I can say. We did a few things differently this year, but I will have to say, the boys absolutely loved the morning.

Instead of doing a lot of box store shopping, we shopped via Amazon and though it took a lot out of it, the convenience factor for my wife and I really played a big part in that. We also decided to cut back a little too on gifts and instead of doing for friends and family, that we would have people over for dinner.

As we get older and since I’m 7 years older than my wife, I’m more focused on time and spending quality time with someone than money on a gift. Throughout the past several years, we have lost someone before the holidays and it just seems that the reality that we will not live forever, just sinks in. Our first priority is and will always be the boys and making sure that they have a great Christmas, but everyone else will take a back seat and we will try to do something with people, not necessarily for them. For me, I would open my house and kitchen for anyone to come and spend time around the table and enjoy a meal with us.

For us, now that we have a bigger house, we are able to entertain more and have more people over and we really want the boys to see that there is more to Christmas than just gifts. So tonight, as we have wrapped up our second round of opening Christmas presents, we are home, I’ve just put the ham in the oven and the boys are playing with their toys. And my wife and I have agreed, that no more traveling on Christmas or Thanksgiving anymore, which almost made me cry and dance.

There has differently been a lot of reflection this year at Christmas, for a multitude of reasons. My Father in Law is getting remarried. The boys helped me put out luminaries last night, which for me, was my favorite thing to do at Christmas time. And honestly, the fact that the boys really understood Santa and the idea behind Christmas, that didn’t hurt either. I felt for the first time as a parent, that I got to really experience Christmas through the eyes of my kids this year and the innocence of the day.

So from our home to yours, Merry Christmas.