Christmas Time, Family Time.

A while back there we had a wonderful Christmas season. Do we remember?  Yes, even as time races and life gets in the way or neural connections, we certainly remember. There was something about decorating the tree, or adding our own artwork to it (of the little kiddie variety) and then the presents, of course. There were the lights flickering away and the popcorn streamers winding their way down the sides and across, every which way. Oh yes, we had popped so much more popcorn that we had actually put up. The rest settled into our collective bellies that day. It was a wonderful day. 

And then there were the letters to Santa and the leaving of the "reigndeer food" outside on the balcony, an addition brought home from school by the girls. Then, as they slept, Santa arrived to place the presents under the tree. Those, along with the variety of presents, friends and  relatives (thank you Aleko, Anna, Vincent and Sammy!) provided the motivation for an early morning wake up. Too bad the wrapping, which was so delicately placed in just the right manner, was torn apart within just a few seconds. The girls, not concerning themselves particularly with the lovely designs and patterns on the paper, tore into the presents one by one in a frenzy. The smiles and giggles were all worth it, even if daddy sat there and wondered (to himself) if the use of paper is worth the 0.43 seconds that it takes to tare it all apart and scatter it about the floor.

But really, most importantly, it was about family. It was about enjoying the time we have with Tia, TTmouz and Avi and of making the best of it together. A post-Christmas trip to Pangkor (as you now know), a Christmas dinner and lunch, a number of daily dealings with the Colombian-Greek family clan and all in all we'd have to call it a pretty successful vacation!  After all, vacations and presents are all fine and dandy, but we all know that the real present is the loving interactions of family on special days.