A Christmas to remember

My favorite Christmas memory is the Christmas of 2004. On the day of Dec. 24, my mom had a doctor's appointment in St. Cloud to see how my soon-to-be baby brother was doing. He was supposed to be due in January. When she got there the doctors realized that my baby brother needed to be born that day. So my mom called our family and told us the baby would be born today. Caleb, my brand new baby brother, was born later in the afternoon before we went to church for Christmas eve Mass. Going to church was not the same without my parents but I do remember praying for my mom and new baby brother.

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Weather drawing by Amanda Unger in Ms. Hemstad's third-grade class at Baxter Elementary School.

After church we went to my grandpa and grandma's house for supper and my mom and dad called and told us to tell them the name of their new grandchild. My grandma could not figure out how to pronounce my new little brother's name - Caleb. It was so funny to hear her say it! We just laughed. They were very excited just like us! This was a very happy time for all of us.

After having supper at our grandparents' house, we went home and waited for our dad to come home so he could tell us more and show us pictures. When my day got home I couldn't believe what Caleb looked like; he was so cute and cuddly! He was hooked up to tubes and monitors because of his prematurity. Caleb has Down syndrome and is very high functioning, cute, energetic and happy.

The next morning (which was Christmas morning, Dec. 25, 2004), it didn't even seem like Christmas to me. Our house had been decorated for about a month but it still just didn't seem like Christmas. After breakfast we went to my grandpa and grandma's to open gifts. They were excited to see us. Then we were on our way to St. Cloud to visit my mom and baby brother. It seemed like it took forever to get there but once we got there I was so excited to see my mom and Caleb.

We spent the rest of our day at St. Cloud Hospital and came home after supper.

This was the best gift that Christmas! (And my grandma still to this day cannot pronounce my little brother's name - Caleb! She is one funny grandma!)

Caleb is and always will be my favorite brother!

This will be and is my favorite Christmas memory! God blesses my family and me every day and this is one very special blessing to our family.