Tuesday

Christmas in the East Wing

Our Christmas holiday was good,
but there were some adjustments
that had to be made to our original plans...

See,
my mother went into the hospital 
a week ago
with a SEVERE headache
and
blood pressure ranging in the 220's to 240's.

Throughout the week,
it became obvious she was not going to
be able to be home for Christmas,
so here's how we tried to make
"lemons into lemonade"...

*****************************************

Our Christmas Eve,
our evening church service helped 
get us all into the Christmas Spirit...
...with sweet shepherds...
...and adorable angels.

***********************************************

After the program,
we all
(the kiddos, me, Super Dad, and his parents)
left the church and went...
...straight to the hospital to visit my mom and dad.

This was the first time the kiddos got to see
their Marmee since she was admitted 
to the hospital,
and I think it helped lift her spirits a bit...

*******************************************


After the hospital,
we went home and let the kiddos...
 ...demolish, er, open one present before bed...
 ...and set out some 
Peppermint Fudge and Diet Coke
out for Santa.

(Oh yes-
no milk in cookies in our house-
Santa likes to "mix it up"
every now and again...)

*********************************************

 Christmas morning brought...
 ...gift opening...
 ...and worship with our church family.

And eating at the local Chinese Buffet.

Oh yes-
a good
fa-ra-ra-ra-ra time
was had by all.

Normally,
we would spend the afternoon or evening
at my parents' house,
eating a more traditional meal,
but this was nice too.

We spent the rest of the day
being lazy,
playing with our new toys,
and enjoying each others' company.

 ********************************

And now we arrive
at TODAY'S Christmas celebration...
 ...in the East Wing of the hospital.

My mom is slowly stabilizing...
...so we took all the gifts my parents
had to give everyone...
 ...and had a good time...
 ...continuing the Christmas celebration.

Imagine the nurse's surprise
when she came in to take my mother's vitals...
 ...and she discovered a stable
set up on the hospital floor.

Different,
but good,
just like our
Christmas 2011 has been in
The Fantastic Five Household...

5 comments:

  1. I hope your mother continues to do better! You did a fantastic job making lemonade out of the lemons of the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Missed you guys, but more presents are on the way!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you're mom is doing better. Your kids' smiles show they had a wonderful Christmas regardless of all the changes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope your Mom is doing better. It looks like you had a nice Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great job of making lemonade out of lemons! I'm glad she's stabilizing.

    ReplyDelete