I GOT MY CHRISTMAS WISH!!!!!!

for the most part....

The main thing that I was hoping for was to be able to see my nieces and nephews again.  I haven't seen them for nearly 3 years because my brother has cut me off from them.  You can see my original post here.

I was all set to spend Christmas Day with my friend Joe and his family, but a couple of days ago my mom called me to say that my brother said that I could go to his house for Christmas to see the kids if I promised not to talk to him.  Sidenote: my brother has a history of holding grudges and being very spiteful.  That was fine with me because I really wanted to see the kids.  It was a little awkward, but it was worth it.

Oh my gosh!  The kids have grown up so much -

Aubrie - she's the oldest - the last time I saw her, she had naturally blonde hair.  Now, her hair has turned dark brown (naturally).  She's also a lot thinner and her voice sounds different.

Kaylee - she's the next oldest - she grew like a foot or more - she's a good 3 inches taller than me and her voice is a lot different.  In fact, she changed so much that I didn't even recognize her at first.

Bryce - the oldest boy - he's decided he wants to grow his hair long and he's grown a lot.  I found out that he's an avid reader and already has some favorite authors.  He's in 3rd grade, but reading at a high school level. 

Ayden - the youngest - he's really matured a lot - he has Aspberger's and the last time I saw him, they were having a lot of problems with his behavior.  Today, though, he was really well behaved and he was such a good boy.  I do know he's been doing a lot of work with a therapist and apparently it's paying off.

There's no guarantee that I will get to see my nieces and nephews on a regular basis from now on, but at least I got to see them today.  I hope that I get to see them more regularly, but I don't want to push my brother.  I'm just grateful for the time I had today.

Thanks everyone that said they would keep me in their prayers.  I think it worked!

Oh, and I almost forgot, my sister-in-law gave me a great present - she gave me a stack of all the kids school and sports pictures from the past 3 years.  That was really awesome. 

 Aubrie, Kaylee, Ayden, Bryce