Christmas Highs and Lows

Smiles, belly laughs, gratitude and excitement in the giving were the true gifts that I saw from my children this Christmas.  The cost of the exchanging was kept at a modest minimum and the gifts were not at the top of any best-selling lists but they all seemed to feel the thoughtfulness that went into each item.

The main highlight of our Christmas celebration was orchestrated by Erika.  While attending a Piano Guys concert in the fall, she felt inspired to get Derek a cello for Christmas.  Knowing the cost range of such a project, she invited all family members and close friends of Derek to come together in the giving.  She then contacted Mr. Hansen at the school for information on where to get a new, high quality, low cost cello.  He replied with a link and after processing the order she was giddy.  I was a little worried as she ordered such a costly gift with her own personal funds at stake but she never doubted that it would come together.  She would frequently update me on those who had donated and I noticed that she seldom shared the amount of donation with me, just her enthusiasm and gratitude for them.  It was also fun to watch her and Bret sell things online as a way of gathering funds to make up the difference of cost vs. donations.  Their knack for finding treasures at DI for a small cost and turning it around to sell online at a profit was amazing and seeing them whittle down their collection of shoes and skateboards was a good thing.

The cello arrived a couple of days before Thanksgiving so all who came to the house for the holiday had a sneak peak because she was so excited to share it with others and it was hard for her to hide that excitement for the day that Derek was home from Logan.

When the final moment arrived, she was nearly bouncing off the walls.  Derek went to pick up Sierra (who was stuck in a snowdrift because of the overnight storm) and during that 20 minutes I thought she would pace a trail in the carpet.  Derek had no idea what was coming and as he was directed to unwrap the box that stood nearly as tall as he did, his emotions were already getting the better of him.

It took quite an effort, and a heavy dose of rosin, to get that new bow ready for playing and tuning the cello for the first time required some loosening of the pegs but once it was ready to go we were entertained for nearly two hours as Derek fell in love with his new companion.  Having not played since the previous June when he turned in the rental cello, his fingers were sore but it didn't slow him down any.

This day we witnessed pure love expressed in giving and gratitude.

A bonus gift this year was having Daymia's family stay with us throughout the holidays.  They moved to Mississippi last June and this was their first trip back to Idaho. The only complication in their trip was finding a place to stay without overwhelming their extended family.  The obvious answer was in our basement.  Even with Derek home for Christmas our basement would still have two empty guest rooms...perfect for Daymia's family.

Jon and Tami, Cara, Daymia, Shane, Erica, Jordyn...and Levi

We were already good friends with the Sanders but now they feel like family.  They would wrestle with the little boys while joking around and playing games and then we'd put the little boys to bed and the rest of us would stay up late playing more games and sharing stories that only family tends to share.  They spent most of their days hanging out with extended family around Rexburg and Idaho Falls but we felt privileged having them return to us each night. 

Among the happiness and joy of family we are quite normal and have occasional lows.  This time it was between Nathan and Hyrum. 

Everyone was on Hyrum's good list except for Nathan.  

As great as the high was in the weeks leading up to Derek's cello gift, the low started for me about 2 weeks before Christmas. I had been fighting off a raging headache that would not let up.  And, it wasn't just this headache that had been wearing me down, it was a series of cluster headaches that I'd been dealing with through most of November and December.  No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, hide it, hydrate it, and medicate it, I was getting to the point that I could hardly function.  It was so frustrating to have so many plans that I could not physically carry out and had to eventually just let go of.  LeRoy was great to fill in where I was falling apart.  

At 6am on Christmas Eve morning I asked LeRoy to take me to the doctor.  I knew if I asked him he would make me go even if I talked myself out of it during the next few hours before the office opened.  I've been to doctors before but I don't seem to get much help in narrowing down the cause of the headaches, just an offer of meds to cover the headaches.  This time a cover-up was exactly what I wanted.  

However, the new doctor took a very detailed history as we sat (I was laying in fetal position) in a dark room with him asking questions in whispers. He wanted to get to the cause and this time I just wanted the pain to go away.  Due to the holiday he was happy to give me three shots and we would follow up for a cause later.  I agreed to two of the shots ("an ibuprofen type amped up and a muscle relaxer"...I was too out of it to listen to real medication names) but the third shot I turned down even though the thought of waking up "sometime tomorrow" was so enticing. I didn't want to miss all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; I just wanted the pain to clear.

Following the shots I went directly to the chiropractor because the base of my neck and my shoulders were so extremely tight.  By the time I left there I was nearly asleep.  LeRoy got me home, tucked me into bed and no one saw me for the next four hours.  I woke up long enough to read a couple of stories with the boys and get a little food and then I put on my headphones and to the sound of rain I was out for the night, eleven hours straight. LeRoy took care of Christmas Eve without me, which I was so grateful for, and Erika made sure the finer details were covered.  I felt terrible having Daymia's family here while I was hiding like a hermit in my room but they were so kind and understanding.  I was relieved to hear that they didn't tiptoe around for me; they all just had a fun, silly, happy evening together.

Christmas Day is still a blur.  I do remember Derek opening the cello and I vaguely remember Levi opening his dope money from Erika but other than that I look at the pictures that I took while remaining in one place in the room and they are just pictures, not memories.  I was awake long enough for gift opening (which didn't even start until about 10) and then I slept off the rest of the afternoon, woke for a light dinner, and slept for ten hours that night.

It took a couple of days before my head really cleared and I felt like me again.  I was dizzy, light headed, and had no appetite for about a week but it did knock the headache right out of me (as well as any sense of myself).  Though I mentally and even physically missed out on so much of the holiday I was grateful that everyone worked together to keep up the family traditions for each other and for the little boys.