My favorite Christmas gift

Yes, these are native Americans and pilgrims made from construction paper and toilet paper tubes. They were made for me by my very sweet, very thoughtful, very wonderful daughters, Heather and Wendy.

Up until this past fall, I had others almost exactly like these freckle faced characters. Heather had made a couple of pilgrims in her Girl Scout troop in 1st or 2nd grade. Then, when Wendy was pre-school age, she and Heather crafted some more pilgrims and a pair of native Americans. I thought they were adorable and always set them out as part of my fall/Thanksgiving decorations.

Sadly, due to an unfortunate incident, I no longer have the originals. In October, when I opened the plastic tub of fall decorations, I discovered some of my miniature gourds had spoiled. Everything was damp and covered in mold! (I'm not sure what happened. I've stored real gourds before with no problems.) It was a horrible, stinky mess. I had to wear a mask and gloves to go through it all.

Only a couple of ceramic pumpkins were salvageable; everything else was totally ruined. I wasn't upset about losing the foam pumpkins or the silk leaf garlands or the candles. What upset me was losing the little hand print turkeys with the colorful craft store feathers and the scarecrow coloring pages and Wendy's family turkey project from kindergarten; all the girls' precious hand made things. Including the construction paper and toilet paper tube pilgrims and native Americans.

I cried as I sorted and threw things away. I cried as I called my mom and told her what had happened. I cried as I went to bed that night. I was heart broken.

Then, Christmas morning, I cried again as I opened the box and saw what my girls had made for me. I barely had the lid opened when I whispered "Oh, girls!" and the tears started to flow.

This is undoubtedly the sweetest, most thoughtful gift I have ever received. It took planning and time; not to mention secret stashing of toilet paper tubes. :)