"Merry Christmas from the Rooyakkers"

Hi everyone,

I'm filling in for my Dad tonight on the blog. I came home yesterday for Christmas, and it's been really nice to be home. 

Today was lovely. I slept in and Dad cooked me and my brother Adrian breakfast when we woke up, as he usually does every year on Christmas day. Bacon and eggs and hash browns - yummy!

My parents got me a new pair of colourful running shoes for Christmas, which I love. I've needed a new pair - my current ones have lost their colourful shine! Haha. And I got socks, which is always the best thing ever to get. Nothing beats the feeling of wearing a new pair of socks! New socks are also something I never think to buy for myself, so it's nice to get them as a gift.

Later in the day, my Uncle Mark, my sister Miguette and the kids (Kylie and Colby) came over, and we all sat down to a nice Christmas dinner. We also had dessert and then spent a large chunk of the night just sitting around the table chatting about random topics, playfully making fun of each other, calling someone on speaker phone in order to settle a bet, and at the request of Kylie, we played a game of 'Apples to Apples' (Junior edition), which ended up being a lot of fun!

Today I am incredibly grateful for my family. We're not perfect (as no family is), but I think we're kind of "perfect" in our imperfection. I love that I can have open and honest conversations with both my mom and dad, and that we all can make fun of each other and not be so serious. I also continue to be enormously grateful for my parents' general support. I do, at times, take for granted that they are so supportive of me and accept me for who I am, when I could have just as easily (more likely, even) had parents who were not so supportive. Being recently exposed to some of the beliefs of my extended family really put this in perspective - I am so grateful that I can count on my dad and my mom to have my back.

We have our full Rooyakkers Christmas day on the 28th, when my older brothers Peter and Jon and my sister Alisha will come down, and we will have another big dinner. I am looking forward to it!

Whatever you celebrate, whatever this day means to you, I hope you all had a wonderful day, and could spend it with loved ones, biological or otherwise!

Love,

Michael

"Then the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!" - Dr. Seuss