Christmas Eve, 2013

Anne and I hosted Christmas Eve at our home and as happens each year, it became a very happy and heartwarming occasion.

In all there were 28 people, including our daughter in law Maria's family, her mother Mary, her sister Anna and her new husband Lany, her brother Joe and his fiancé Dominica and her other sister Teresa and her fiancé Dave.

Each invitee was a pleasure to be with and in no particular order, these are the events that most standout in my mind:

1) Listening at length to Lany, for he is very bright and personable and I believe he will become a successful attorney.

2) Learning from Maria's brother Martin that he joined an organization called Quorum and at long last moved into sales. Whether Quorum becomes his place for success is unknown, but Martin has his greatest professional gifts in sales.

3) Talking with Anne's and my nephew Ted Houston. He has always had considerable capability and it sounded like he is building a quality business.

4) Being with Debbie and Stacy. They got married just three days earlier and their happiness uplifted my heart and brought a glow to our Christmas Eve.

5) Anne's and my one year old grandson Ikaika running here, there and everywhere, the first time we had ever seen him do this.

6) Ikaika's big brother, our grandson Keoni, who has a marvelous way with Ikaika and at age 13 is growing into a wonderful young man.

7) Anne's and my grandchildren Cameron, age 8 and Carina, age 5 who were adorable and very loving, offering hugs and smiles.

8) Time with Anne's and my sons Kyle and Clayton and their beautiful wives Diane and Maria. I can never get enough of their company, nor that of our son Kevin and his beautiful wife Melody and their cute little guys, Brody, age 8 and Gannon, age 6. But Kevin and his family were in Arizona.

9) A white elephant gift game, in which funny gifts were won, lost or traded. There was so much laughter and good cheer as this game was played, with everyone participating in some form.

10) The silence at the end of the night, as I could still picture the faces and hear the echoes of laughter and voices that in their tone and in their words expressed gratitude for the goodtime each person had had. These moments made the whole evening especially worthwhile.

Now all that was left was to await the arrival of Santa's Sleigh.

Dick