special gift

My Christmas gift this year is that my family is coming here. My mom and dad, 2 of my brothers, and my parents' dog are all arriving on Friday and will stay until early next week. I am so excited to have them here. Beyond excited. Usually we go to them...either before Christmas to stay through the holiday, or right after Christmas. My parents have come to celebrate with us before, but they came the weekend before Christmas, so technically they've never been here on December 25th.

I have a big family, and my parents were high school sweethearts, so everybody on my side pretty much lives in the same town (except me. Also, my youngest brother moved to Los Angeles this past spring but we're optimistic that some day he'll move back closer to home.) When we go for a visit, my mom cooks up a feast for us every day and looks after our every needs, both spoken and unspoken. She leaves us wanting for nothing. My dad takes us out to wonderful restaurants and insists on paying our way if there's anything we want to do - movies, a day at the zoo, a show. I always tell people that I get spoiled when I go to see them. I'm not sure if I can do the same thing for them exactly, but I can do my best to make sure they have as nice of a visit here as possible. I just want them to relax and not worry about anything. I want to cook for them. I want them to enjoy as much time as they can with my sons. I will (hopefully) make them feel like they are on a holiday.