Gifts from afar.

A belated Epiphany for all!

Gifts came from afar when the UPS
man rolled into the driveway!

The three kings came and we celebrated the grand day of Epiphany this past January 6^th, but those weren’t the only people “from afar” giving gifts at this time of a brand new year.

When the brown UPS truck rolled down our driveway on Monday, the driver walked to the house bearing gifts ‘from the west”, gifts from our children who waited to send the box until now. What fun it was to have this special surprise await the rest of the family when arriving home from various outings, seeing this big box wrapped in plastic bearing the family name.

Some of the children began to dance around in utter excitement; others raced to the couch and called our names for the family to gather. My husband pointed his finger knowing once the gift session began; the piano practice would not begin. Call us mean and Grinch-like, but what a great ‘carrot’ to get the last few to complete their required daily practice session in the day’s schedule, and did they ever move it quickly to get that task finished! (big grin)

Onward ho, there we were, all gathered in our great room, children adorned in their dog walking clothing, insisting on gimme, gimme. Well, to our most pleasant surprise, everyone became calm and cool once the box was pried open, holding their breath and eyes downcast as if a genie would suddenly appear from the opening.

Gifts abounded and as each child found their name on one of them, they held their package firmly and waited rather than choosing to rip the wrapping paper open in a sudden fury. Their manners appeared, and one by one they awaited their turns on cue, watching one another and gleaming with the thrill of the day they were blessed with.

Amongst others, the larger final package was for mom and dad, three gift tags adorning the front of the package from several of our children and their spouses. To our surprise what should appear but a (are you spellbound too? Laugh), a digital picture frame!!! My oh my! What a perfect gift for us! Now I have homework to do, a manual to read and very shortly this little sweet device will sit atop our computer desk in the great room for all to enjoy. It came complete with a USB device to hook up to a computer for transferring photos onto it, 256 MB worth of photos (many!), and when activated, it plays a photo slideshow of all the pictures uploaded onto it.

My husband is one of those people who begins to sit in a mesmerized state and all halts while he watches the sudden screen saver appear on the computer at this same desk, the one where I have it instructed to play a slideshow from my picture files, lasting approximately 5 minutes. And then, as if a sudden carpet is pulled from under his feet, his little show is over as fast as it began. With this digital picture frame, he will now be able to enjoy a slideshow all day long, as often as he pleases, and whenever he pleases. Slyly I will still be able to sit at the computer as long as necessary without having to worry any longer about his little screen saver clicking on for him to enjoy the spectacular show ahead.

I’ll keep you posted as I unravel the mystery to hooking this sweet thing up for all to enjoy. Stay tuned.

Thank you everyone (!) for your kind and thoughtful gesture for all!

Thank you to Aaron and Jenn for your gifts and sending the package too.

What fun we had with this Epiphany thrill!