Hamilto-ho-ho-pia!

December 17th was our turn to host the weekly Hamiltopia meal, and Jess and her kids (Andy was out of town) and Shelley came over. We enjoyed some rare and delightful adult conversation, and then the door opened. It was Pop Z and Peg, and he was in full St. Nick regalia! He also had quite a large sack on his back. The five kids were scampering around him with glee, and as he was wrestling the bag to the floor, Evelyn grabbed his leg and said--with stars in her eyes--"Oh, I was HOPING you would come!"

Then Pop Z, er, SANTA opened his bag, and as he did, I thought with shock, "There's a PERSON in there!" Alas, it was AMY, fresh off the plane from Oregon!! (Peg has a REALLY funny account of the scene on our front porch as Amy--appalled that her dad had chosen a plastic trash bag as his Santa sack--climbed into it and was awkwardly hoisted onto his back by Peg.) We all erupted with joy and the party escalated as Sung Ko and Tim Schrank arrived (Tim was nearly fresh off the plane from Peru, where he'd been studying Spanish & enjoyed quite the South American adventures), and again when Di & Tim & the kids came.

Di's kids had packed some presents for our kids--things of their own they were parting with as a joyful practice of giving--and Maddie's gift was in a particularly large bag. As she was opening it, Evelyn was jumping up and down with anticipation yelling, "I think it's Aunt Jenny! I think it's Aunt Jenny!" It was really sweet to see my 4-year-old hoping that a gift would be a PERSON. (And, while Maddie's bag did NOT contain Aunt Jenny--she wasn't to arrive from New Zealand for a few more hours--Evelyn LOVED the big, rideable horse that WAS in the bag.)

It was one of those nights that makes you sigh and smile to recall--the house full of people, every dish required, children scampering all over the place, and laughter and stories and music all overlapping and piling up in mountians of joy.

"So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I should say that we are almost indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend." (Robert Louis Stevenson)