Blog #4 Winter Holiday Memory

My mom enters the living room with a tray full of hot chocolate.  My cousin dibs the biggest one and everyone just laughs.  My uncle turns to me and asks me, "isn't it the youngest who usually dibs first?" And I replied, "apparently I'm not the youngest anymore."  I look back at my cousin and his cheeks start to look rosy.  I grin at him as he puts the biggest mug filled back down.  I happily take the mug and put it aside for my mom.  I grab another and rap my hands around the warm mug.  I walk to the kitchen and grab the family gift off the table and decide to grab the whipped cream while I was up.  As soon as my five cousins and brother saw the whipped cream they gasped and looked at me.  I smile and spray some in my mug and pass it on.  Everyone used me as a guinea pig and asked me to sip the hot chocolate to se if it was too hot.  I pretend to sip it and tell my cousins it is fine.  They all take a sip and look at me like with tears in their eyes.  My two aunts and uncle laugh as a blow on my mug.  I hand my mom her hot chocolate and she says thanks.  Everyone else sets theirs down to let it cool off more.  I put the gift down on the coffee table and we start the Chinese gift exchange.  We started from youngest to oldest.  I grab one and it turns out to be some Toblerone.  My brother gives me the death stare, at this point I am not going to remind him he can steal from me.  My cousin picks up a wrapped gift and opens it.  He ends up with a coaster to hold napkins, everyone tries to hold back their laughs put can't contain themselves.  My brother than goes, then my three four other cousins.  By the end of the first round everyone is mad at someone for taking  something they were satisfied with.  Except my brother.  He takes the Toblerone from me and I take a dairy queen gift card from my cousin.   By the end of the night I feel that Chinese gift exchange tears the family apart.  But it does not, everyone still has laughs and shares memories from the Christmas before.  We all share what we got from the exchange and everyone lines up for more hot chocolate in the kitchen.  I decide to pour everyone's so nobody will fight over who got more.  My cousins, brother and I all go downstairs to watch a Christmas movie while the parents chat about who knows what.  But we are all a family and enjoy every moment spent together while sweet candles burn, laughs are passed around, and love flows through each person onto the next while hearts fill with love, joy, memories, and as our stomachs are satisfied with cookies and hot chocolate.

Blog #3 Seeing a really happy dog out for a walk #403

I pull on my hood and walk through the crisp air.  It is just about to snow and I miss the warm sun already.  I look down at my cold feet and tuck my chin in my coat trying to stay warm.  I look back up and a smile comes to my face and I see a little puppy dog jumping in circles and rolling on the cold hard ground of grass.  The dog sees me and runs toward me as I lean down.  The owner follows her dog and stops a few feet away from me, as I pet the dog.  The dog leaps in circles in front of me and runs to its owner and back to me.  I can see the smile on the dogs face and I can tell it is so happy to be outside.  The little dog sits in front of me waiting for something, so I ask the owner if he has a ball, he hands it to me and I throw it far.  The little dog runs like the wind and her little back legs follow.  She sprints back to me and drops the ball waiting for me to throw it again.  She pants heavily but doesn’t care, she loves to fetch and loves the cold air to keep her cool.  After about five minutes of us playing I let her, and her owner continue their walk.  I walk away with a big smile on my face and look back and see the puppy glancing back at me as she walks in the other direction.  Her little ears flap side to side as she strides along the pathway with what looks like a smile.  I completely forget how cold I am and happily walk home thinking of the fun time the dog had and how happy she was to be outside.