Merry Christmas!

Christmas turned out pretty good so far this year =)  I was really worried about how plans would play out, especially for Christmas Eve.  But it went well!

My Christmas celebrations started Wednesday when Alisha and I did our gift exchange.  I went to her mom's (Faye) after work because she had my big present there.  It was a big cabinet meant for putting my memories of Wayne in, she had it made by a friend at her church.  It's beautiful, and I almost cried.  Then her mom gave us a ride back to my place, and I put Wayne's picture, a plaque he got for me ("Why God Loves Little Girls"), a plaque I made after he died, his flag (he fought in Vietnam and so got a flag at his funeral), and a few other things from/for him.

Then we opened more gifts.  I was more excited for Alisha to open her gifts than me receiving the rest of my gifts lol.  But I got a gift card for an intro week of yoga, and a Saskatchewan Roughriders plate, chyeah! =D

Christmas Eve morning I went with Alisha to her mom's for a bit, and when we got there, Nicole had just arrived as well to drop off Alisha's gift, so we got to hang out with her for a bit, which is always fun =)  Then I was able to open my gifts from Faye, which was a gift card for Safeway and some really cute puppy slippers (they're so soft too!)  After that Alisha drove me to my mom's place so I could ride with my mom back to Faye's for dinner.

Dinner was delicious!  Turkey, stuffing, Brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, gravy, and turnip puffs.  Mmmmmmmmmm =)

After dinner we all (Alisha, myself, our mom's, and Alisha's brother Travis) went to Alisha's church (Churchill Park United) for their Christmas Eve service.  It was a great service, and they did a play called "Of Pigs and Paintings" which really impacted me.  It was about a painter who painted "the greatest Nativity scene ever painted!"  But as he was finishing his painting the night before Christmas, there were a bunch of animals that showed up in his painting that he didn't paint, and they wanted him to paint them in because they were there but nobody ever gets to see them in paintings.  Their talk ended up about whether Jesus cried or not, which Mary explained that he did, just like any other baby, because as much as he was fully God, he was also fully human.  So the painter added a single tear drop in the eye of baby Jesus in his painting.  Apparently this painting did actually exist, but it has been lost through the years.  There's still one painting still around from this painter, whom I can't remember the name of currently, but I would have LOVED to see this painting of the crying baby Jesus.

Afterwards, we parted ways.  I went back to my mom's and everyone else headed back to Faye's for the night.

Christmas morning at my house was great!  Alisha came over about 9:30, and we had breakfast: waffles, whipped cream, blueberries, strawberries, bananas, apple pancake, sausages, turkey bacon (my mom made some tofu turkey for Alisha), it was sooooooo good!!!!! =D  After we cleaned up we opened presents.  I was so excited for my mom to open her gifts from me, I got her a few books from her favourite authors.

Here's what I got:
-cabinet for Wayne's memories
-Riders plate
-gift card for intro week of yoga
-Safeway gift card
-puppy slippers
-vacuum
-bookshelf
-Superstore gift card
-Timmy's gift card
-Chapters gift card
-Walmart gift card
-Bulk Barn gift card
-bath and body stuff
-Band-Aids
-Echinacea (since I'm always sick LOL!)
-soy nuts with sea salt
-teas
-NO SOCKS!
-NO UNDERWEAR!

I'm sure I'm missing a thing or two... But that's the gist of it.  Lots of stuff, I was definitely very grateful! =)  I did not get the wok with a lid I asked for, but we haven't had our family dinner/gift exchange yet - which means I've yet to receive gifts from my grandmother ;) - so I'm still hopeful.

So there you have it!  Stacey's Christmas celebrations 2010 as of yet! =)