day 5 and 6

Yesterday we really surprised the girls with big gifts for chanukah...each received her own laptop...pretty extravagant, but our old computer is such a dinosaur and they were constantly fighting over using mine to do homework...so Gordon figured it was a gift of self defense.

I think my favorite gift last night was that we skyped my niece Rachel at college (her first semester), my parents are here so we lit candles together and sang the blessings with my parents, husband, daughters, niece, and me...So not the whole family but it was so special to be together in this unique way! We lifted the computer so she could see the candles shining on the snow outside our window...but the biggest shine was her smile as she sang with us even thought technically she was alone in her dorm room for the first time ever during chanukah. Such a sweet smile!

Today is day six....I have no gifts to give...but already my Mom made a big pot of pea soup (just like when I was little) so I think I will receive more lovely memories of childhood with every spoonful! And the girls will each get a small gift tonight from Gordon and me (oh yeah, I guess I do have something to give...I forgot). I think too, my parents are enjoying being here with us...last night I heard my Dad say to my brother on the phone (with deep relief)..."Laura's not as bad off as we were expecting."...so I think for my parents seeing me disabled and even with my wildly varying language skills but better than they expected is a really big gift...and they will be here for 6 more days...so we will be exchanging lots of love...the best gift!

Laura