It’s been a rather strange year, so I expected nothing but Christmas to be strange as well. In a way it was because it was the most peaceful amazing Christmas I may have ever had. Orginally we were going to spend the week with Emily. It was the first year ever that I had a week off around Christmas. However as covid numbers began rising and with two covid tests in a week, I decided the wise thing to do would be to stay home. I did not put a tree up this year but did get out my advent add an ornament tree. Allyson faithfully added an ornament every day and placed the angel on top on Christmas Day. One day the ornament was a girl with dark hair. I said oh that’s Emily and Kayla is the angel cause she has blonde hair. Allyson was like thanks a lot mom, I have dark hair too.

This was my seventeenth year of Christmas Angel. When I was sick at the start of it, I realized this is my second favorite two weeks of the year. The only thing better is Big Stuf camp. This years deliveries were very uneventful. I did two families and neither’s doorbell worked. On the second night I did manage to run over a deer that had just been hit by another car. No damage done to mine. My sister wanted Christmas Angel as well but couldn’t afford the gifts. I told her I’d buy them and also wrap as long as she delivered them. As much as I would love to do five or six families there is not enough time in the evening to deliver them all. It never fails the two people I choose always live in opposite directions. I really hope the crazy nightly gifts brightened their day as much as it did mine being stealth and not getting caught.

I will now reveal the best Christmas present of all. Six years ago a friend of mines husband passed away from ALS leaving behind four children. Since then we have talked about me making quilts out of his t-shirts for each of them. This was the year she was finally ready. I was so honored that she asked me to do them for her. Also, that she trusted me with them. We chatted about what she wanted and divided the shirts up and she left me to my creative abilities. She also gave me extra tshirts to use as fillets so every shirt was his. He was a big blues fan so I found blues material for the back. I had a lot of fun putting the quilts together and deciding what would go in the blank spaces. I must give a shout out to those St Louis 250 cakes because the arena cake had the checkerdome on it in a way that I could quilt. Here are all four of them.

On Christmas Eve I received a video of the youngest opening the quilt. His reaction warmed my heart and made me cry at the same time. He recognized all the shirts and was so confused at first at to where it came from. I could tell he loved it and it meant so so much to him. The other three had the same reaction and to me this was the best Christmas present of all. To create something from my heart that gave joy (and a little sadness that their dad is no longer here with them) to four wonderful people.

Mole moral ~ It wouldn’t be Christmas without a crazy gift from Brian. This year it was a scratch off and I didn’t even win. I gave him 100,000 bars so we were even. Often the greatest gifts are not objects.