500 Gifts

I hit 500 gifts on my list yesterday; a great way to end 2012.  I do plan to continue the list, with a goal to get to 1,500 gifts by the end of 2013.

451. The church Christmas program – Maggie singing her heart out!
452. A glass of Red Velvet, “White Christmas” and pizza
453. Jessie waking up Maggie, a gentle whisper “Wake up, Sissy.”
454. Ice skating with Girl Scouts
455. Maggie reading “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
456. The quiet of the office after everyone else has left.
457. Laying in my bed, looking at the stars, marveling at Jupiter
458. Barenaked Ladies Christmas music
459. True White elephant party at work – lots of laughter & food
460. Office closing early
461. Wendy’s hamburgers for supper
462. The whole family pitching in to clean – even Jessie!
463. Maggie cleaning her room without prompting
464. Cooking for the week
465. Maggie eagerly awaiting Grandma Alana’s arrival
466. Both girls’ excitement when grandma finally got here
467. Jessie calling for Grammy
468. Zoo Lights – the girls’ excitement at the “peddy lights”
469. Picture with Santa and a pony
470. All the presents that Grammy brought – the tree looks like it exploded!
471. Awaking to a small dusting of snow
472. A lazy Sunday
473. Decorating cookies
474. Watching Christmas movies
475. Christmas Eve candle light service – those wonderful old hymns and beautiful renditions of them. Listening to Maggie sing “Silent Night”
476. Maggie praying for snow – and it snowing on Christmas Eve!
477. Gift opening lasting all day
478. Maggie’s joyful face when she opened her American Girl doll, Josephina, from Grammy. Her first reaction was to run over to give Grammy a hug!
479. Maggie and Jessie playing with Maggie’s new Barbie dolls
480. Ornaments made in school and daycare
481. The mess of all the wrappings
482. Gifts for the whole family
483. Our own picture board from Grammy
484. Playing outside in the single digit weather with Rusty
485. A lazy Christmas day
486. A girls’ day with Maggie & Grammy, lunch, shopping and a movie “Wreck-It-Ralph”
487. Maggie picking out 2 board games with her gift cards
488. Playing Mouse Trap with Maggie
489. Jessie playing in the bathtub
490. A night out with Mark & Kristi
491. Seeing the right thing to read at the right time; God’s intentional timing
492. Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
493. Old pictures of my girls, Maggie’s round face, chubby cheeks, seeing the little girl Jessie will become in her tiny baby photos
494. Jessie napping on my lap
495. Snuggling with Rocky, watching “The Avengers” again
496. Hand-me-down clothes
497. Jessie hiding Grammy’s bookmark in her diaper
498. Following the Vikings’ game on Twitter
499. A quiet New Year’s Eve day at home watching movies
500. A quiet New Year’s Eve dinner with friends, chili & wine