Christmas Spirit.

We haven't put up the first Christmas decoration. Nope, not a single one, not even a tree. It's not that I don't enjoy decorating the house and filling it with outward signs of Christmas spirit; it's just been very busy. It is also hard to think about decorating because we will be leaving for Denver on December 21st for a week long visit with Rourk's brother and his family. It has been hard to get motivated knowing we are only going to be here two more weeks.

Never fear, the Freeman family has been celebrating. We kicked off the season by attending the Greenville Christmas parade last weekend. It was a perfect night for it. The kids were on their best behavior. Rourk let Ryan watch from his shoulders so he had a bird's eye view. Lilly was mesmerized by the lights, and the thousands of people that came out to watch.

This morning I took the kids to eat breakfast with Santa. Shortly after arriving Ryan found Santa posing for pictures near the back of the room. I had Lilly and Ryan was trotting along in front of me. As soon as he saw Santa he made a run for it; pushing his way up to him and plopping down in his lap with no regard to the other children. I was apologetic, but also helpless to do much about it. I sure wasn't going to drag my child off Santa's lap. Thankfully there weren't that many waiting and everyone was gracious and let Ryan have his turn in Santa's lap.
Tonight was the Down Syndrome Family Alliance Christmas party. It was hard work and I have sore feet, but it was a huge success. Remember how concerned I was about trash? I didn't have to touch a single trash bag thanks to Portia and Patrick Roberts. Portia and Patrick are Anne's parents and we couldn't have done it without them. All I can say is thank you very much for spending your evening with us and working so hard to make the event special for everyone. My family had a wonderful time and I think everyone else did too.
And remember my concern over the cupcakes and finding them ground into the carpet? There was only one and I am not kidding when I tell you that I found it near the area where Ryan was sitting and from the looks of this picture I am very suspicious. How about you? Do you think he's the cupcake culprit?We have several parties and outings to attend before we fly to Denver. I share this because I feel we have more Christmas spirit this year than ever before. We are spending time together as a family. We are laughing and singing Christmas carols. We are coloring Christmas pages and hanging them up (hey, that's decorations). We are making cookies and getting together with friends. That's the true spirit of Christmas to me.