We started with stocking gifts and for Bret, Erika, Derek and Sierra that meant new hats.
Bret giggled the whole time he put on his bearded hat and was happy to have it keep his face warm while he was skateboarding. Erika Jo didn't take her llama hat off the entire day and even wore it to work the next day.
The minion hats were a perfect fit for Derek and Sierra. They are masters at making crazy faces and silly sounds and the minion hats only enhanced their skills.
Justin had a hard time figuring out what to give to Levi and with a couple of suggestions from Levi he found a beanie that he was happy with and hoped it would keep his head warm on those extremely cold work days. Though it wasn't a really exciting gift, it was thoughtful. The excitement came when he decided how to wrap it. Levi is also a gum addict so Justin picked up a container of cubed gum and individually wrapped each piece and put them back into the container. He then put the container in a box and wrapped that. After wrapping the gum in three different containers, each getting larger, he wrapped the beanie around it and then wrapped the beanie. After nine wrappings, and an encouraging note on each wrapping, his practical gift was transformed into one he was excited to give.
It took Levi just under five minutes to open it with all of us, but especially Levi, laughing the entire time.
Erika was tucking the little boys into bed and when she noticed one of the blankets they were using she told them about her "Danky". When the three older kids were little my Grandma Hawkins made each one of them a blanket. The following year we were traveling to Texas and I needed a way to easily pack their blankets to take with us so I sewed a pocket on each one to make it possible to fold the blankets up into pillows. Erika called hers Danky. She told them how she still has her Danky and still cuddles with it sometimes.
Later that night she decided that she wanted to make each of the boys their own Danky. It was five days before Christmas. The next day she and Bret went shopping for fabric but then she had work for two days. On Christmas Eve she was still sewing them together but I knew that she would finish because that's how we do things. My mom was sewing the buttons on my prom dress when my date arrived and I am well known for finishing projects just in time for a deadline so it didn't concern me at all that Erika's was still working on them late Christmas Eve. Grandma was very helpful and seemed excited to have a project to do that night. It made it seem more like Christmas for her.
Erika was so excited for them to open their blankets! She taught them how to fold them up into pillows and showed them how she used to tuck her feet into the pillow pocket at night. They cuddled with and dragged them around the rest of the day and throughout the Christmas break.
One of the highlights for Christmas was making our gift for Grandma and Grandpa. They had received their mission call the week before and were going to be leaving for the Louisville Kentucky mission in February so we wanted our gift to be something they could take with them. For family home evening we talked about missionary service, sharing our testimonies and our love for the Book of Mormon. Our activity that night was for each of us to write our testimonies in a Book of Mormon so that Grandma and Grandpa could take them with them on their mission.
It took the rest of us a little time to come up with what we wanted to write but Nathan went off to a place on his own and in a few minutes came back and asked if what he wrote was okay. After reading it I could hardly speak to respond. He did it all on his own with no promptings from us. The others wanted to hear what he wrote so he read it out loud. Justin remarked, "how old are you? That's perfect!".
The Book of Mormon teaches me about the gospel and teaches me good things. My favorite person in the Book of Mormon in Nephi. I have a testimony that Jesus is real and that he loves us. I love you. Love Nathan
I believe that Grandma and Grandpa will be wonderful missionaries and will be inspired when it comes time to pass along our gift.
One day in November Bret called and asked if I could hide something for him until Christmas. He didn't want Erika to have any idea about it. His gift was so thoughtful and her reaction was perfect.
Erika very seldom cries and especially not when she is put on the spot or in a crowd. When she opened her gift it was as if the rest of us weren't even in the room as she pulled Bret into a hug and gently cried.
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