Merry Christmas! It's 5:45am and I am sick. I was singing Christmas carols last night when suddenly I realized that my throat had been hurting for a while and I had a slight headache. No, this wasn't due to poor singing. Although the tons of water, juice and homeopathic concoctions that I have consumed in the past six hours or so have probably helped, I could not go to sleep all of the way. Interestingly, neither could my father-in-law. I got up about every hour to get a drink and go to the bathroom and he was there at the computer playing on on-line game that he really likes. You have to cut him some slack and let him enjoy his vacation because the poor guy has to go back to work on Tuesday.
I have been threatened for a while now that I'm going to have to follow the Schwartz tradition of waking up at 5:00am on Christmas. They did this to my brother-in-law, Rick, some years ago and he has insisted that it is now my turn. However, the twins keep he and Leah up at night so he is in no position to be loosing precious hours of sleep just to initiate me into the family. Ironically, this year would have been perfect for my initiation. Ah well.
My wonderful mother-in-law just got up to ask me why I was awake so early. She's now poking at the ham which has been cooking in a crock-pot all night. We had Shepherd's Pie last night and will be enjoying ham and a million other wonderfully cooked goodies. I wonder how many of them I will actually end up eating.
We arrived in Lansing one week ago. Last time I was here my nephew Johnathan wouldn't talk to us. I say wouldn't because his mother firmly maintained that the little one-year-old could, in fact, say quite a few words. This time, now a giggly three-year-old, he came to pick us up from the airport and he and I had fun sitting in the back seat of the van chatting and making funny faces. Since I have known him he has been obsessed with large vehicles: planes, fire engines and even garbage trucks. He was easy to buy for this Christmas. He loves Bob the Builder videos, one of which I almost saw half of. I play the part of the annoying uncle and sing the show's intro song randomly throughout the day to which he replies clearly and emphatically, “It's over!”
Becca has been having fun helping Leah take care of her four boys, especially the twins Maxwell and Benjamin. I have been amused at what good tag-teamers these two are. They rarely cry at the same time but once one has been consoled, the other pipes up. They often take naps and sleep at night at staggered times. Leah has said that this is good and bad as she never has to deal with them at once but rarely gets a rest.
My oldest nephew, Richard William Tobey II, is a very intelligent first grader. Intelligent children need lots of attention or they will demand it by misbehaving so Becca and I attended his class' holiday party. We helped with games like Hot Potato and Musical Chairs. I was impressed with the way that Richard's teacher handled the kids in the class. Richard is precocious to say the least and is luckily in a school that has a system that allows children to advance at their own pace. I understand that he is doing second grade level math.
Rick and I have been to the local YMCA twice to play racket ball. The second time was not quite as humiliating as the first but Rick was a very good sport and did his best not to make me feel like a big wimp. His racket ball partner's doctor told him not to play racket ball anymore so Rick hasn't been playing as much as he used to since he has no one to play with. Perhaps I'll let him thrash me again before we go back to the icebox that is Utah.
Curiously, this Christmas in Lansing has reminded me more of a chilly Modesto winter than the white Christmas that I've seen on TV and have been expecting. It has been overcast, drizzling and cold but not cold enough to snow. One of the guys at the desk thanked me for bringing California weather with me; he doesn't know how right he really was.
I suppose we'll be opening presents in an hour or so. Rick's parents and youngest brother are also here so there is a mountain of gifts under the little Christmas tree at the Tobey's house. Becca bought me a bunch of little gifts while I bought her a small yet costly one. To throw her off I've wrapped it in a box that's about ten times too big, put a library book in the box so it will feel heavier than it should and then stuffed it with newspaper so nothing will roll around too much. This is going to be fun!
Thank you for your letters. Sundays have become a little busier for me so I haven't been posting as much on this blog. I like the blog and the family letters because they serve as a sort of journal. Speaking of remembering, not too long ago my mother watched a bunch of old family videos from about ten years ago where I did overtly dorky things. I told her to get her fill this year because next year those won't be anything that I would want to watch. Becca's interest is peeked though so I suppose I'll have to vacate the house a bit so she can see them and then grin knowingly and chuckle at me when I get back. She's cute when she thinks that she has something on me.
I'll be speaking to some of you later today I'm sure but let me wish another Merry Christmas. For the past ten years or so I haven't really wanted to sing carols much because of how much I had to sing them in high school in the different choirs I participated in but this year I have really enjoyed it. Yesterday, being Sunday, we tried to sing songs that particularly had to do with Jesus Christ. It was a rather moving experience for me and was very helpful to get my focus back to where it should be. This year, the Christmas story, the ministry of the Saviour and His sacrifice have weaved in an out of my mind as a more continuous whole. I hope that this year we can all ponder on what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
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