merry merry!

He's too excited to sleep. We've been tracking Santa on the NORAD site on and off today (very fun), and we see that he's nearly here. Dennis just put out the cookies and eggnog and is trying valiantly to go to sleep. We are undecided whether to get up early or wake him tonight after Santa comes. David has to be at work at 8 in the morning, but at least it'll be a short day for him.

We spent the day mellowing out, watching Christmas specials, playing; baking 3 kinds of cookies, 3 kinds of fudge, and brownies, and assembling trays of yummies for loved ones and our neighbor. We had a delicious seafood supper at Gran and Pop's place before attending the Christmas Eve service at church. Today Dennis and I talked about Holy Communion and what it means, and he asked lots of good questions. At the end of our rather long talk, I told him it was his decision if he wanted to have communion tonight at church. He first said he wasn't ready, but he must have thought about it because he came to me a while later and said he wanted to "eat the bread and drink the juice to remember Jesus and God because God would like that". He was delighted to go to the front of the sanctuary tonight to receive the elements (his first communion experience), and tonight we took it by intinction (dipping the bread in the juice). He smiled until we got to the front and it was our turn, then he very solemnly took his bread and dipped it and ate it, eyes wide with an expression that indicated his reverence of the importance of the occasion. He told me today that "God sent Jesus to take away all the bad things we did and He had to die on the cross for us" and we talked all about the Last Supper, so I think he was in the right frame of mind for it tonight. Of course, once church was over, he was ready to "go back to Gran's and open some presents!", which we did.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Even though Santa is about to make his arrival at the Mitchell house, we have not forgotten our real gift, the one we are commemorating with this holiday, the birth of our Savior two thousand years ago. Tomorrow we will read again those beloved verses from Luke and those from Matthew about the Wise Men, and we will visit with our family with grateful hearts for the gift of our salvation and all the blessings we currently enjoy in our earthly lives. May there be peace and goodwill in your homes and communities tonight!