I got this scripture and thought in my email today. I loved it. It's a great reminder of how we can worship our Lord and Savior this Christmas!!
To start off our Christmas Eve, Scotty and I went for a run to clean out my sinuses. It's that time of the year :(. Then Scotty picked a fight with some boxers. He totally won. He's my hero!!!! Hahahahah.
Last night it rained all night and it was really loud. The rain woke most of us up so we all slept in this morning because we were so tired.
We called the bishop here in New Orleans and asked if there was a family that needed some help with Christmas this year. He gave us the name of a little five year old named King. King lives with his grandma and they are very poor. Scotty took Taj and Graham to the store to pick out toys for King. Then, today we drove over to King's house to deliver the gifts. Our first plan was to ring the doorbell and then run so that King thought that the gifts really did come from Santa. As we drove into the neighborhood, we realized that if we wanted King to get the gifts, then we'd better hand them to him. It was a sketchy area.
Here we are driving over to Kings house with the gifts.
We sent Asher up to the door to deliver the gifts. King came running out yelling, "Are those for me"? He was SO excited. He kept yelling "This is the best Christmas ever". Then his mom came running out with sheer joy and appreciation on her face.
Then King ran to our truck and tried to jump in. He was so dang cute.
Kings mom came running over and was so grateful and so cute.
This experience made our day. It made our Christmas. After we left we all talked about how the Spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of Christ. We talked about life and that the secret to happiness, is service. It's easy. If you are unhappy, then go and serve someone. See how it changes your perspective.
Then we drove over a really cool bridge!!!
My dad has a cousin that lives here in New Orleans. I had no idea that I had family in this area. Micheal and Nina Giambrone. They are related to the Giambrone's that we visited in New York.
A few weeks ago my dad told me about Micheal and Nina. Micheal is my dads cousin who he hasn't seen since he was about 8 years old. They were close cousins when they were young. My dad also found out that Micheal just had a major surgery and is still recovering. With Covid and Micheal's surgery, I had no expectations of meeting up with them. I contacted Micheal hoping to serve them in some way to help with Micheal's recovery and spread some Christmas Cheer. While I was messaging Micheal and asking him if we could bring them anything, He and Nina invited us over for Christmas Eve. I was hesitant because I wouldn't want to do anything that would put Micheals recovery in jeopardy. They reassured us that they would love for us to go over and spend time with them. We accepted the invitation and were so very excited to meet them.
Here they are!!!
They are seriously amazing souls. We connected with them at such a level that only family can do. Nina made us Gumbo for dinner. She also made chicken wings, beans and rice, meatballs, cherry 7-up ice cream punch, and they had tons of drinks for us. They also got presents for each of us. The kids were able to open up a Christmas Eve present just like at home with their grandparents. We talked all night and the kids watched Christmas movies. Honestly, it was the sweetest experience.
It still amazes me that we could go over to someones house and have instant connections and love for them. But then, it's not just anyone, they are family. Family is the most important unit here on Earth. They showed me that once more. I would give anything for these people.
Taj got comfy on their couch ;)
Gumbo / Beans and rice
Here they are with the gifts they gave the kids.
Family photo!!!
Asher loved Nina's chicken wings so she packed up the left overs and sent them home with him. We was so grateful. :)
We had a wonderful night with them and left with full bellies and full hearts. We love Micheal and Nina Giambrone. Thank you so much for spending Christmas Eve with us and making it magical!!!
cooooooooooooollllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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