The Babushka Saga

Christmas 2011 started as all good family days do.. we had decided to get together on christmas eve this year as it was a saturday and we had all day and into the night to enjoy christmas together and eat, drink and be merry!

There is a long tradition in our family since daddy passed - mum buys each of us girls a gift.. and it's always the same.. usually a lovely box with lovely things inside.  This year was as it has been the past couple of years - mum had bought each of us beautiful boxes - Sammy opened her's first.. it had cats on it... and inside was notepads and a few little lovely things.

I opened mine a little time after that.. it was a christmas theme box.. and inside were lovely notecards and some lovely little things for me.

Janne went last about 20 or so minutes after me.  Sam had said just before Janne started opening her christmas themed box "you better have the same things we got" as a jest to how fair mum is in making sure we are always equal (I love that about mum :) )

Sam had her back turned as Janne started to open her box.. but I was watching.. and saw Janne's face pull a 'funny look' and then shut the lid on the box.. and I stood up and as you can see from the photo above... demanded that Yann open her box.. Sam was alerted now to the fact something was going down and LO and BEHOLD.. mother had slipped a Babushka doll into Yann's.. because it was something Yann had always wanted.

Amongst much hilarity Sammy grabbed me in a hug to share the grief of being 'left out'.... picture evidence below of this HILARIOUS moment in our family

We 'commiserated' with eachother.. amongst all the laughter on this day.. this story stands out as one of those moments I love with my family... I remember christmas 2011 the most for the laughter.. and love shared.. despite a tough year as a family... and some challenges we had and are facing as a family and individually - we shared this day ... and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for those moments that light up the corners of my life!

Learning What Is Important And What Is Not!

One of the greatest journey's in life is learning what is important and what is not.  At the illustrious age I am, I sometimes feel as if I have that worked out.. and then realise... I'm still learning.  Take my recent family vacation.

When my family go on vacation it is lots of laughter.. some tears... some frustration and lots of laughter again.  Sometimes when I watch films like 'The Family Stone'... I relate to how families bump up against eachother.. especially when older and with lives of their own.  Brothers and  sisters who share family genetics but have their own peculiar and amazing way of 'getting on in the world'.  Sometimes the way my mother or my sisters 'get on in their worlds' is VASTLY different to mine.

And so.. I bump up against them.  Put us on vacation in shared flats.. where we live next to and around eachother and there is bound to be some 'friction'.  I always go away with the view to not letting this affect me.. but being the passionate, involved woman that I am.. I invariably end up breaking that at some stage during the vacation.

This time was no different.. but I walked away with a little more illumination this time.  Perhaps because I was 'watching' for those 'learning' curves that I know Heavenly Father sends me.. if I keep watch.

Life is quite simple - if your family are crazy, passionate, funny, infuriating but largely kind, good people.. HOLD ON TO THAT!  don't complain or whinge about it.  YES, they will do things that will make you scratch your head... or something.. or some decision that you do not understand, because you would not make the same decision... LOVE THEM... CHERISH THEM..

and when you get moments like above... shared laughter.. a giggle about something that happened.. and a photo that celebrates that we belong to eachother... SHOUT IT OUT TO THE WORLD!

Learning what is important and what is not is a daily thing.. and I need my family to learn those lessons..