Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been wonderful so far, though we do miss being with our families. On Christmas Eve, Samuel got a couple packages in the mail. One was a Santa outfit from Rudi's mom (his GrossMama), which he tried on (see pictures). The second was a gift from his MiMi and Grandpa, which he had to wait for Christmas Day to open.

Christmas Eve was eventful. In the morning we went to a tire store to replace our spare tire...Did I mention that I shredded one of our tires by "grazing" a fire hydrant on Dec. 22nd?

Rudi then did some last-minute shopping and I did some last-minute baking, and then we headed off to church. Our church service was nice.  The people are so wonderful to us as usual--we got cards from several families, and a couple families even got Samuel presents!! After the church service, we hung out for a while (eating refreshments), then went over to a friends' house for a dinner, which was fabulous. We stayed too late (9 pm, 2 hours past Samuel's bedtime), and paid the consequences with about 30 minutes of crying from Samuel before went to sleep. Rudi and I both then collapsed in bed and that was that (we are pretty lame now, at least more often than usual).

Christmas morning was, I believe, more exciting for Rudi and I since we had the joy of watching Samuel "open" his presents. Besides loving the wrapping paper (which we expected), Samuel also seemed to enjoy playing with the toys inside (which we had not expected). After

presents, Samuel took a great nap while Rudi and I enjoyed coffee, opening our presents to each other, and eating gingerbread muffins. We then did Advent as a family, which brings us to the present. This afternoon we have dinner with neighbors, and then Rudi has to go to work this evening.

We do praise God for coming to be with us as Jesus, thus allowing us to have eternal life with him!

Rudi with his new golf shirt

Samuel tired after opening gifts

Rachel with her new picture frames from Tropical Living, our favorite local home store

Like father, like son

Rachel with her childhood stocking, made by her Grammy Coe

Rudi with his childhood stocking, made by his Memo

Samuel waiting to open his big present from MiMi and Grandpa

Samuel in his Santa outfit, given to him by GrossMaMa

Samuel trying to open a present on Christmas Day

Chamorro Santa and my thoughts

Samuel had his first picture with Santa this year, appropriately so since it is his first Christmas. As you can see, it is not your typical Santa picture, since this Santa is Chamorro, and also dressed in tropical garb.

Anyway, it made me think a little bit. At best, the Chamorro Santa picture is fun, an entertaining reminder of our first child's first Christmas. At worst, though, it represents the invasion of Western culture throughout the world, often at cost of other cultures. Also it could represent how this Christmas icon often replaces the celebration of the birth of Christ, even in the far reaches of the Pacific.

Anyway, I didn't perseverate on this too much because I know the event was harmless in itself. However, I did feel the picture deserved at least a little reflection rather than simply posting it saying, "here is Samuel with Chamorro Santa!" The picture is pretty cute, though, don't you think :)

Learning Guitar from Daddy

Here is a video of Samuel doing what he loves most: playing guitar with Rudi. Samuel loves to sit and watch Rudi sing and play to him. He could be fussing, crying, but when he even sees the guitar, a smile comes to his face. So it was so cute to watch him try to touch and play the guitar today. Please excuse the fact that Rudi has no shirt on.