The last few months we have been busy with preparations for
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS! There were plenty of parties and plenty of fun.
Lady Hiva and I had a few more parties to attend as the
final days counted down to the big DAY. One of them was to spend time with the
Youth at Church. It was great to have some time enjoying their energy and excitement
about life. We also went to a party with some of the Stake Leaders and their spouses. These are the times that we remember we celebrate this time of year
because of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Christmas Eve day—thanks to my boss President Obama—we had
the day off! Lady Hiva and I went to Greenhills (which was surprisingly quiet
for the day before Christmas) to buy a Nativity set for us and Heather that was
made in the Philippines so we have it when we leave. Then that evening we went
with some work friends to eat Christmas Eve dinner and then to Mass with them.
It was fun to be around children again and feel their joy in the Season. It was
funny to see that same joy led most of the parents and their younger children
out into courtyard at some point during the Service. (I have to admit the
beautiful glass windows showed the fountain, the sun and the fun the kids were
having…I may have joined them if I did not think it would be rude to leave in the
middle of the sermon)
Christmas Day was finally here! Lady Hiva and I watched a
few videos about Christ on LDS.org before we opened the gifts we purchased for
each other. We have so much to be thankful for this year. We truly have been
blessed. To keep ourselves within a budget…not spending a whole bunch just
because we can…we decided to set our limit for $100USD each. It was fun to see
what we could buy within that limit. I was excited to see what Lady Hiva
thought about the gifts I purchased for her. I had a “Date Night” Christmas
theme for the gifts…each gift was an idea of something that we could do on a
date together.
I was also excited to open my gifts. During the Holidays we
have a couple rules for each other: 1- Dust cannot shake, hold, or touch gifts.
This is due to my ability to guess what is in the box (a hereditary skill from
Normy) and as a result “ruin Christmas” 2- Lady Hiva is NOT allowed to purchase
things for herself during the Holiday Season. Every year she thinks she needs
something and buys it and it turns out that I too have noticed she needed it
and already have it wrapped under the tree 3- We each choose a credit card to
use and an Amazon account to use and we cannot check each other’s until after
Christmas.
I was SO good this year. I did not touch the boxes, even
when I vacuumed. I also did not check the credit card that Lady was purchasing
things on (which is a miracle itself because I am usually obsessed with paying
off things and constantly doing numbers in my head—Lady says I need help! HAHA)
HOWEVER, despite me being good I still found out about a gift by accident. Lady
and Madre and Kell had worked together to get me an Ipad to surprise me. Really
cool…I know. But a few days after Thanksgiving I was on the phone with Best Buy
trying to get a receipt for another computer we had purchased earlier in the
year and the girl, who was trying to be really helpful, however she said, “The
only thing I see this year is an Ipad that you purchased 23 NOV…” What? “I only
see your Ipad” Oh, ok…. LADY HIVA is going to kill me! LOL ! I finally told her
about it a few weeks later, just so we
have no secrets…It was fun to open it and we were able to watch Heather's family and Leni's family open their gifts via Facetime! Technology is amazing!
We helped cook some food to feed the Marines dinner and then
we went to have a get together at the neighbor’s home with several friends. It
was so much fun to be together not at work or planning something else—we were
just enjoying each other.
It was a wonderful season. Again, Lady Hiva and I have so
much to be thankful for…
What a fun Christmas you guys had. Thanks for sharing! Happy New Years you two!
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