What Christmas is all about

I am sure that Julian and I are not the only parents who struggle to teach their children that Christmas is not all about the presents, while at the same time showering them with gifts. Actually we didn't do most of the showering. Having a big family helps with that! As a result, the true meaning of Christmas was lost at times and the presents were often the focus.

That's not all bad though. You can see from the photos below that presents certainly brought smiles to their faces. And having new toys to play with means having new toys to play with together, and they have been doing more of that lately.


Here are some of the presents as they found them Christmas morning. Anyone who has seen me decorate a Christmas tree will note that I had "help" this time. Initially all of the ornaments were clustered on the bottom third of the tree. I then helped my helpers by moving some of them higher and spacing them out a bit more evenly. Once they finally got the message that the entire tree was to be decorated, they kept moving the ornaments around. So the bald patches on the bottom third of the tree were left when they moved ornaments to the back of the tree. It must have been after this photo was taken that I took it upon myself to space them out again.

And here are Charlotte and Alexander enjoying some of their presents. Note that Charlotte did not get more presents than Alexander; she is just a more willing model.

New fleece jackets from Grandma and Grandad
(perfect for the usually mild winter weather in San Francisco)

A stuffed baby pig from Keresztpapa, Keresztmama, and Máté
(on her must-have list this year)

An apron set from Dédi
(left behind in Cleveland since she has another set here)

A marble track building set from Dédi
(given to Sándor and demonstrated by his Keresztpapa)

A stuffed blue-footed booby
(Charlotte's gift to Alexander, from his must-have list)
New pajamas from Jézuska

A floor puzzle from Auntie Tracey
(comes with us now anytime we go visiting)
New pajamas from Jézuska

Thank you to all of our family and friends who remembered us with gifts this year. We hope that your Christmas also brought you smiles. May the joy of Christmas last throughout the year!