The Role of a Mother

I have come to the realization that the role of THIS mother on Christmas day is rising at 3:30 am to call my family in Newfoundland to wish them a Merry Christmas as they have probably already opened all of their gifts by that time...considering the 4 1/2 hour time difference. That and preparing the turkey to be in the oven by 5am so that we can eat it by lunch-time. I grew-up being spoiled with gifts, from my parents, from my distant relatives, from friends....but now I am beginning to understand that Christmas is not about ME anymore. It is about seeing the joy on my children's faces as they see the gifts for the first time under the tree. I often wonder what goes through their heads. Do they hear a choir of angels singing "Halleluiah!" or do they simply just think "YAY....NEW toys to play with!" and not really care where they came from. This year Maya helped write a letter to Santa and pour a glass of milk for him. This year she even put a straw in it for him. Unfortunately though, she got her paws on Santa's big cookie so there wasn't much left for the big guy when he arrived at our house. But he left presents anyway.


This was on Christmas Eve. Maya was a LITTLE excited for Santa to arrive.


Declan just wanted to hide from Maya's madness =)


When they woke-up there was a picture message for them. Santa must have had his poloroid camera with him this year because he took a picture of himself in front of our tree. Maya was so shocked to see he was actually in our house. She kept saying "Look Santa! And Mommy's Curtains!" So she believed that he was REALLY here....haha.


On Christmas morning, Maya loved opening her gifts and playing with them one by one. Declan cared more about the junk food that was in his stocking. Maya caught on when I opened my stocking and found a chocolate orange. Good thing there were two in my stocking this year because Maya ended up stealing one and eating the whole thing.


Here is little Maya showing her doll head her new hairstyle.


When I saw this ornament in a store this year I just had to buy it. It is of a gondola lift. Jeremy proposed to me on the gondola in Banff, Alberta so I just new I had to get this when I saw it.


Declan playing with his Incredible Hulk toy on Christmas Day


Here is a picture of the entire Williams family. Jeremy's sisters from Indiana and Washington were here in Oregon with their families which made this Christmas a lot of fun. This was taken when we were celebrating Christmas at Jeremy's parents house on Saturday.


The kids in their matching PJs and Jeremy and I in our matching outfits.


The Bacons - Jeremy's sister Gina and her husband Tony

The Bacon's dog - Nico

Me and my baby boy after his nap

All of the grandchildren on the Williams side: (L-R) Nick, John, Tyler, Andrew, Declan, Maya, Sophia.

Nick opening his stocking from Grandma and Grandpa

The six-pack siblings.

(L-R) Aaron, Tiffany, Tammy, Jeremy, (Front) Gina, & Tony

Jeremy's sister Tiffany and her hubby Aaron

I guess Tiffany thought that Jeremy was getting old so this year on his 35th birthday he got a Depends diaper, Preparation H, and some Bengay.

Grandma and Sophia

You know it is time to retire your binkie when you start your modeling career!

The babies, Declan (13 months) and Andrew (19 months)

Tiffany and her youngest Andrew

The youngest cousins staring at someone. (Andrew, Maya, & Declan)

Me and my sis-in-law Tiffany

And finally, here are some silly pictures from Jeremy's birthday party.

Happy New Year to you all! Stay Safe and Enjoy the Party!