Christmas is a week away...and counting!

I moved to the United States from Ukraine 10 years ago next Tuesday the 23rd. Growing up in Soviet Union, where all religion was prohibited, we did not celebrate Christmas. And even if we did, the Russian Orthodox Christmas is on January 7th. Plus, half of my family is Jewish (so now they celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year). All this amounts to the fact that we did not have Christmas or Hanukkah traditions in my household. Our big holiday was always New Year. That is when Father Frost would come with his Granddaughter to deliver presents for the kids. We would also put up a New Years tree, and have big late night family dinners to meet the New Year and toast with Champagne.

Over the years, especially since I met Stephen, Christmas has become more and more important to me. It is a time to see family, celebrate together, and of course exchange gifts :) I LOVE getting and giving gifts. I tend to think hard about gifts I get for different people, and get very excited for them to open the presents and see if they like the gifts as much as I though they would. In fact, I have been known to give the gift to the person ahead of time because I was so excited. I hate waiting.

Stephen just called me to tease me that he just bought my gift. And will have it with him when he gets home today. Although I do have a pretty good idea of what it is, I might have to sneak a peak at it, or maybe even play with it. If I do, I might post about it or I might not :) (Lets keep Stephen on his toes :) )

This year, the Christmas holiday is going to be extra special because we have Daniel now, and it is his First Christmas. I really did not think much about it, until I saw how excited Stephen and the rest of his family are. Stephen's grandmother has gone above and beyond with decorating her house and getting ready for us to arrive. Dad (Stephen's father) has sent us pictures of the outside and it looks so festive and beautiful. I think everybody in Shreveport has been ready to see us for weeks. I cannot wait to go!

Additionally, we are going to get to see lots of our cousins from Mom's (Stephen's mother's) side of the family. They are all so much fun. Let me just say that our visit will include a cookie icing-off competition. I will post more about that after we go see them.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year everybody! I hope you have safe and joyful holidays with your loved ones!