Polka Dots and Ric Rac...: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas week is always interesting for us. We celebrate every year: 2 birthdays, one anniversary, and Christmas....

We try to make each one special. And each one shares a day with another.

December 23rd. My sweet hubby turned 28. And we celebrated 5 years of marriage.

December 25th. Christmas. Jesus' Birthday :) My mother in law's birthday.

How do you make all of those special? OBviously Jesus trumps the rest of us, with his birthday...

But how do you make someone feel special in the midst of the holidays? This year I think I am going to delay Brandon's birthday party until January...combine it with our awesome friend Becs...I figure we might have kids by next Christmas and then he might end up REALLY neglected....so we need to make a big deal of it now!

On a cruise, similar to in a restaurant in the states, they like to celebrate with you. The sweet servers in the restaurant weren't sure WHAT to sing to us...

Happy Birthday and Anniversary to you....Happy Birthday and Anniversary to you....

It was so confusing :)

Christmas was a lot of fun. We each brought only one gift. And we did a small exchange on the back of the boat. Looking out over the Western Carribean Islands....it was a nice way to celebrate. Different, but VERY nice!

I hope I didn't make our trip sound fun. Or sound ungrateful. I know we are allowed to go on vacation. I loved it. In fact, I am so thankful for the time with our family, especially after a really challenging year in many capacities...

But sometimes I feel SO PRIVILEGED. I almost feel guilty about it.

But, I suppose in these moments I can take a deep breath, appreciate what we have, and realize that when we get out of the military, go into ministry and have multiple children....life might not always look this way. :) It will still be amazing and fun...but not the same.

SO here is a glimpse into our Christmas....

It was a little bright, instead of white Christmas.