Christmas Day is drawing to a close but we have truly enjoyed these last couple of days and have had so many opportunities to reflect on what Christmas really means and to enjoy family and friends too.
Yesterday Burl just had to get out and shop – I guess it’s a “Guy Thing” that men have to shop on Christmas Eve even though we weren’t exchanging gifts and our shopping was done. But since Mike had a full day of clinic we went in search of a pink iPod Shuffle for Annie and were successful. Nothing like spending someone else’s money!
We ate lunch at Paradise Bakery and then I took Devin for a long walk in his stroller. When I got back, Burl had the bikes all ready to go so we took off to ride for a little bit.
At 6:00 we attended services at Mike and Annie’s church and even though the music and decorations were primarily secular, we did eventually get to sing some true Christmas carols and saw the traditional manger scene. I missed singing “Silent Night” to candlelight but created that image in my mind when I sang. Sometimes you just have to draw on past experiences to get to the real message.
Mike and Annie’s friends, Dan and Cristette, invited us all over for an authentic Feliz Navidad meal and we feasted on tamales, brown beans, chicken enchiladas and rice seasoned with cilantro – plus the yummiest guacamole I think I’ve ever eaten. Annie’s brother, Andy, played the piano for us all and Devin danced and clapped his hands and definitely out shined his uncle. 
Having been with “Santa Believers” for the last several Christmas mornings it was strange to wake up to a house full of adults and a one-year-old who was only interested in breakfast and all the birthday gifts he received last week.
Mike had to make rounds at the hospital at 6:30 so we drank coffee and had breakfast and after he got home we decided some physical activity was required before the feeding frenzy. Annie’s parents took Devin for a walk, Mike and Annie ran, Burl biked and I power-walked. Too bad the light drizzle turned into a heavy drizzle before I really wanted to be done but since precipitation is rare in Phoenix I figured they needed the moisture.
Annie’s sister, Amy, came over around noon and we opened gifts and then started on dinner. 
Here’s a shot of Burl with Mike as Mike shows off his new Fellowship of Christian athletes triathalon jersey that we gave him. Size X-Small! We think his boby fat must be about 2%. Dinner was a group effort with those who didn’t help cook doing the clean up – except for Papa Burl who used his Master’s in Industrial Arts to assemble toys for Devin!
By about 5:30 Burl and I had OD’d on being lazy so decided a movie was in order. We couldn’t rally anyone else to go along so we went to see “Slumdog Millionaire” which was fabulous. The movie got off to a slow start and was told in a series of flashbacks plus had subtitles which made me fear Burl would soon be snoring but au contraire. He loved it as much as I did and we really got into the rythmn of the movie and the methodology for telling the story. Best of all, we loved the ending. I always hate to go to a show and then come away thinking I should rewrite the final scenes.
The day is winding down and so are we.
……and to all a Good Night!
