Christmas in February

I'm not sure how it came to be the middle of February.   I really can't believe that it's the middle of February and I haven't yet shared the sweetest part of our Christmas.  And even though enough time has lapsed that I should just file it to memory and not bore you with the details, this one is too good to not write down.  

It went like this. 

My whole family gathered together for the first time since my parent's divorce.  

Our four sweet children enjoying having their cousins and grandparents here more than the presents before them.  

Shared smiles and laughter among the adults, soaking in a beautiful Christmas.  

One teary little Sienna, so happy about what she found under the tree but sad that Santa didn't bring her the thing she has wanted most, a Nintendo DS, for the second year in a row. 

One amazing older brother, who noticed the quivering in Sienna's voice and quickly dashed upstairs to his room, to find his DS and place it in a box, writing in his perfectly imperfect writing "To Sienna, Love Santa."  

"Look Sienna, I found this from Santa upstairs,"  he said.  

One crying dad + one crying mom.  A boy who understands.  It's the giving, not the receiving.  

A hidden present behind the couch addressed to all four kids, where four brand new Nintendo 3DS were found. 

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Even now, when someone brings it up, Brad and I find ourselves in tears.  The sweet spirit that Spencer showed that morning knocked our socks off.  His maturity and desire to grant his little sister her Christmas wish was overwhelming.  To know that he gets it, even though in all fairness he's pretty much always gotten it, was reaffirming to Brad and I that in between the bickering and tattling, it's soaking in.  The good parts of life.  The stuff to focus on.  What's really important.  That the greatest joy in life comes from making others feel loved. 

Spence gets it.  And his example is teaching his siblings.  And his parents.  

We've always managed to have amazing Christmas mornings.  Through sick kids and absent family members, we've always made the best of it. 

But this Christmas.

It was magical. 

I know that mountain of presents is excessive, but there were 12 of us here 

Christmas morning, and three of those are bikes!