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!