As I’ve said in an earlier blog Christmas Eve had loomed ahead of us like a big bowl of lima beans…. and if that wasn’t gloomy enough King Winter decided to dump the biggest snowfall of the decade back home.
Visions of our friends sledding, and getting cozy by the fire-place with a cup of hot cocoa were stuck in our heads…. This was too much even for Arlo. Christmas cheer was in short supply!
So, I called on the Martha Stewart that resides deep in the heart of all women and got to work. Turned on some Christmas music (thank god for iTunes) and broke out the scissors and crayons then spent a late night trying to create a winter wonderland on the wall…. Then I booked a room at a fancy hotel downtown where the Christmas lights would be lit on the big night. The next evening I turned up the air conditioning to North Pole cold and cooked up some Swiss Miss I found in the Select Mart. Each night that week we had hot coco and a Christmas movie. This lifted the mood until the morning of Christmas Eve rolled around and everyone came down with a case of the “Bah humbugs” even a round of jingle bells wasn’t cheering up any Curry Grinch…..
We got to the hotel around 5:00. You could feel the building excitement on the streets…. At 6:00pm we were standing on the balcony of our hotel when the lights came on and Saigon was transformed into a magical Holiday extravaganza! We were completely enthralled with the scene below. There were lights on every street and Christmas music playing over the loud speakers. Thousands of Saigonese flowing into the streets. It seemed every other motorbike had 1,2 sometimes 3 little Santa’s clinging to their parents as they made their way through town. No more Bah Humbugs….
We passed out a few presents and sung a couple verses of Santa Clause is Coming to Town then headed outside to join in the celebration.
Just about every kid under 8 was dressed as Father Christmas…oddly though the older kids wore devil horns??? Santa suits were sold on every street corner and of course Arlo needed one!
We walked the streets for a couple of hours caught up in the festive atmosphere. Then ended up in an Australian restaurant for a yummy Christmas dinner. After the meal we walked back towards our hotel and found a place to sit and take it all in.
Seriously, words can not describe the love we were feeling that night! Everyone would squeeze the boys and wish us a Happy Christmas. I don’t know how to describe it but I felt so connected to the world…..One world One Love. Or, as they say here “Same Same”.
We took the boys back up stairs and read A Night Before Christmas then checked in on Santa. The tracking website said he was in Australia so, it was time for bed……. The children were all snug in their beds while visions of spring rolls danced in their heads…..
We headed home Christmas morning. Santa had come!!! He brought Silas and Zeb Beatles rock band and Arlo a ticket to Hong Kong Disney and some Lego’s! My Santa brought me a mac book Whoo!!!
The boys declared that this was the best Christmas ever! Even Silas said he was amazed by it all:)
I had not even considered how difficult spending the holidays away from home and the sweet family traditions we’ve shared together would be for you all. The Saigon Chrismas cheer sounds incredible…love is what it’s really all about- and ya’ll found it alive in everyone’s hearts. What a rich experience to share together! Our kids got Rock Band (but not the Beatles), also. My band is The Fuzzy Bunnies- it’s my little sis and I:)
I love reading your posts!
Missing you so much sweet mama. Your Christmas dinner sounded heavenly! George is a lucky man. Hope he had a good bday:)
miss you all
xoxo
Gosh, you’re a good writer.
I hear the sounds & noises,smell the spices and picture the boys amazement of it all. What an outstanding Christmas experience you both are giving the boys. They’ll never forget.
I have enjoyed reading about your unique Christmas journey. Pripo and Zander will read this too. Looking forward to more adventure through your eyes.
Love,
Rainbow
Wow!! Your Holiday sounded so special!!! I am so happy to see pictures of your smiling faces… The girls want to come to Vietnam for Christmas now! We missed you when the snow was here and when Solstice came with no evergreen spiral( Arlo ,Maya and Ansel probably would have been the only ones to actually light their own candle,but we missed it after all these years of singing… The Golden Star Path Song. And now we all have new traditions and experiences to to cherish and share . You will always be The Mother of Christmas to me Nikki.
We love you all , and thanks for writing this blog…..Happy New Year!!
Nik-
Absolutely beautiful! Love reading about your life over there! Once again, I cannot stress what a great mom you are… you created MAGIC for the boys… they WILL look back on this some day and realize just how lucky there were to experience this… and how LUCKY they are to have you for a mom! So proud of you!
Congrats on the new Macbook… lucky girl!!
Keep posting!!
You are so sweet. Thank you…. so nice to hear that:) Wish I could visit with you I need some girl time!
you’re such a good mama…i saw those little crumbs left by santa…the hotel….the santa suit…the swiss miss…i can see you now. you’re so good! love to you and your family!
Wow, what a special Christmas story! I love Arlo in his Father Christmas suit. He is a born performer. I have a picture of him playing the piano, so seriously. Then there is that wonderful picture of him wearing a cowboy hat that Zeb took.
If anyone could pull a fabulous Christmas together it would be you. Thank you for writing about it and all the beautiful pictures. What a treat!