The Army of Sork: The Best Christmas Yet!

It was great to have Tanner home for the holidays. Having the family all together for Christmas was an absolute treat. We tried to delay most of our traditions until the family was whole. As in years past, we caroled at a local retirement center, delivered treats to our neighbors and friends and decorated our tree with the special ornaments the kids have been receiving each year of their life.

Decorating the Christmas Tree with help from our visiting friend, Gizzy.

This is about 10 batches of Chex Mix we made to deliver to friends.

Austin and McKenna sang a duet from the Polar Express, Believe, in our family Christmas program at the Retirement Home.

Austin put special effort into his gifts this year. He spent many, many hours finishing the homemade knife Tanner had started but not finished when he had to leave for college. It looked beautiful. Tanner had no idea it was coming and was very touched by the gift.

Other gifts included many special things that everyone was very excited about. The givers really took the time to think about and find the perfect gifts.

The highlight for everyone was the surprise gift that came after the other gifts were opened and everyone thought they were done. We pulled out a small gift for our house guest, Gizzy the dog we were babysitting for the holidays. The gift included a dog leash, doggy treats and a new collar. It was several minutes before McKenna realized the tag on the collar had our name and phone number under Gizzy’s name. The look on all four faces was priceless as they realized we were adopting Gizzy as the seventh member of the family. Austin actually cried – he had wanted a dog for so long, it was a dream come true for him.