Christmas

Otto lived and died by the chocolate advent calendar this year. And when we woke up on the 24th of December and were able to eat the last and largest chocolate out of his calendar, I thought we might all burst with gladness. 

He kept telling everyone in our family we only had to go to bed one more time and then THEN it would be Christmas. 

I convinced Ben our family should go ice skating on Christmas Eve. He was super skeptical. Luxembourg City had a Winter Lights festival this year, and as part of the celebration and Christmas Market, they had transformed Place Guillaume into an outdoor ice skating rink. 

Mullins family

Packer family

Ben, by now, had filled Otto with the same skepticism. We met the Mullins and Packer family at 11 am in the City Centre and rented skates for me, Ben, Otto and Aksel and two orange seals for one hour.

It was such a fun hour! Ben looked (and acted) so happy – happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. The kids loved to be pushed around on the ice, slipping and sliding every which way.

My heart felt really full – to be living in Luxembourg, to be having such a good time together as a family, to be with friends, to be laughing and having fun. I committed myself to doing something this fun together on future Christmas Eves. 

We wished our friends a Merry Christmas, peeled Aksel away from the ice crying (he wanted to skate longer) and then started making our way through the Christmas market back to our car. 

Ben saw a stand selling strawberry-flavored candy canes (I had been looking for candy canes everywhere) and bought a box for the kids. Ben also found a stand selling foie gras and treated himself to lunch. I navigated the rest of us toward Les sandwiches de Charles (where I knew the Mullins were headed) and got a sandwich and fries (to share with the munchkins). 

As soon as Aksel and Ingrid were tucked in their beds for an afternoon nap and Ben was happily cooking a ham, Otto and I took the number 18 bus back downtown to jump on the trampolines, ride the carousel and share a hot chocolate at the Luxembourg Christmas market.

We returned just as nap time was ending and all piled onto the couch watching Mickey Mouse Christmas videos on YouTube and waiting for the ham to be done. 

The Packers invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner. Becky’s home looked beautiful and the kids played really well together. The dinner of ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, corn, chocolates, apple pie and chocolate cream pie was perfect. 

Ingrid, Aksel, Otto, Ryan, Bennett & Eliza

We acted out the Nativity, said a prayer, watched the Nativity video on lds.org and let kids play video games and eat candy. As we drove home, I cried tears of happiness – for the Packers, for Christmas, for my children, for the Savior of the world, and for an overwhelming feeling of completeness. 

Ben and I put Otto, Aksel and Ingrid to bed in their Christmas jams and immediately cleaned up and set out Christmas. My favorite thing to set out was a box of Lucky Charms (we brought back from the states last August). I knew the boys would love it. Ben too. 

Ben put together a little cradle for Ingrid and I carefully set out each present I had purchased and wrapped more than a month ago. And then we topped off the evening with a few episodes of Brooklyn 99. 

Aksel woke first at 6:40 am. We tucked him in bed with us until Otto woke at 8:15. Then we woke Ingrid. I waited with the kids upstairs while Ben went downstairs to take a video of us all walking down the stairs to discover stockings and presents. 

Aksel put his firetruck in bed with him that night and it hasn't moved since. He lays in the dark pushing the buttons to make the sirens wail and lights flash. 

Otto told me: I got everything I wanted! A true Christmas miracle. 

We spent the morning playing with toys and eating lots of cereal. In the afternoon, we went on a bike ride (to try out the new bike bells the boys found in their stockings) and waited for the Packers and missionaries to come over. 

The Packers made bruschetta and we talked and ate raclette, fed the children as many bowls of Fruit Loops as they wanted, let them wander up to the attic to play, and then watch a movie.    

The Elders went straight upstairs and called their families. When they came down, the Packers were leaving. I tucked the Elders into the couch with blankets, a Disney movie and a table of drinks, chips, and dessert.  

After months of deliberation, Ben FINALLY purchased the set of six Star Wars movies. So, after driving the missionaries home and putting our children to bed, we watched Episode One. 

As we went to bed a few hours later, I told Ben it was our happiest Christmas yet. 

This Christmas felt really peaceful and purposeful -- each time we told the Nativity story, each time I watched Otto arranging the little wooden Nativity set, each time Ingrid excitedly spotted baby Jesus, and each time Aksel requested to watch the Navitivity video on the Mormon Channel. 

Ben gave me a diamond ring six Christmases ago, filling Christmas with hope, love and a bright future. Each Christmas since, he's placed a card in the Christmas tree for me to find on Christmas morning. It's my favorite gift every year. 

Joyeux Noël.