POST CHRISTMAS 2007

Christmas 2007 is over at the Smith household. Sue and I have experienced non-stop special times that began when we picked up Jamie, Kendall, Lauren and Alexandra from St. Louis International Airport Christmas morning. After getting them situated in two of our five bedrooms, Sue and I went back to the airport to get Rick, Cindy, and Hudson and delivered them to the third bedroom. Our bedrooms have stayed pretty much the way they were when our children lived here. Things were relatively quiet with only one small grandchild until Holly and Guy arrived with their two boys and a baby. Fourteen people were now in place to have beautiful chaos from Thursday until Sunday. Now the house is quiet and Sue and I have pledged to do nothing for a couple of days. To say that our house is a disaster area is putting it mildly, but what a special time each of us enjoyed.

It is very special to me to sit and watch the interaction between our children, their spouses, and the grandkids. There is always so much love that flows from each one. They truly love one another. The humor constantly puts you on the floor laughing. There is a serious touch of caring and the ever-present telling how much they love each other. That is pure joy for me.

Kendall was sick much of the time with a toothache. I know that is not fun, but he carried on very well under the constant pain. We took him to the dentist on Wednesday and he received antibiotics that eased the pain. One of the presents we always give the adults is a candy cane wrapped with a $100 bill. Jamie spent hers before we opened the many presents. Sue is incredible in buying, wrapping, and giving out presents. In spite of the work, she truly loves to give to our family.

We had turkey, ham, BBQ, and finally ham, beans and cornbread. One day, I made five trips to the Mid-town IGA. One of the employees said he had never seen me so much in all the years we have lived here. Paper plates, napkins, toilet paper, artificial sweetner, incredible numbers of coke, diet coke, caffeine free diet coke, mountain dew, dr. pepper, diet dr. pepper, caffeine free diet dr. pepper, pepsi, A&W Baptist Beer, donuts, and paper towels were but a few of the items purchased. Rick went with me several times and saw some people from the past.

Yesterday morning, Sue and I took Rick, Cindy and Hudson back to the airport for their trip back to Dallas. It is always sad when our children leave. This was no exception. This morning at 5 am, we took Jamie, Kendall, Lauren and Alex to the airport and found the largest crowd I have ever seen at the terminal. People we standing outside to get in. They barely made their flight. Later this morning, Holly, Guy, Jacob, Houston, Violet and Kona crammed themselves into a heavily packed van and left for Nashville. I believe Alexandra described Christmas with grandma and grandpa the best when she said:" Thank you grandpa, it was a blast."

Thank you Jesus for our family and your blessed birth.