... a lot like Christmas

We're a day "off" here at the Boltz house, shifting the holiday to tomorrow. We had to adjust it here, turning Dec. 26 into Christmas Day. Turn on the holiday CDs, bring out the sugar cookies, put on the rib roast! It's Christmas and we are into it!

Some of the kids are arriving today, thanks to the fact that flights are cheaper ON Chrismas Day and New Year's Day, rather than the days leading up to the actual holidays. That affects one daughter, Liz, and son-in-law, Ben, who fly today from the East coast. Another pair, Sara and Landon, are sharing the morning with in-laws, so they will come this afternoon. Karen and Rajeev, with 2 1/2-year-old Arya, make the sacrifice to pack EVERYTHING, so that Santa can find Arya at Grandma's. I always am glad Karen married someone with Nepali parents, because that means we always get them for Christmas! Son Phil is here with his fiancee, Emily. With nothing else to think of only days from her wedding, she has given up her holiday with her family to be find out how the Boltzes do things. Oh, and Pappaw is here too.

But what's so odd about that? Our family has always been a little skewed - I mean, I made a tie-dye, 3-piece suit that Phil wore to his senior prom. Liz once had bright pink hair. I never let them "celebrate halloween," but I made each of them fun Bible costumes to go to the church "hallelujah parties," (kind of an ironic twist). Each one spent summers on foreign mission trips rather than comfortably hanging out to watch TV and play Nintendo (not that they didn't spend PLENTY of time with video games). In Phil's words, "it's just that we were never strongly compelled to be like everyone else."

Even with the revelations of four years ago, we still can be together and have fun. Even with new traditions, like sharing the holidays, long-distance travel, and re-arranging the date of the event, it is the togetherness that we long for. So what if it isn't traditional? And some might find it too difficult. For us, the Boltz family, it is not. And even though Ray and I live apart, we are the parents of four wonderful kids, we love their spouses, and we get to be Grandma and Pappaw to Arya, and by next year another new baby-on-the-way.

It isn't the day. It's our family, it's Christmas, we're together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!