On the 28th Philip and I celebrated Christmas one last time. This time we had over his nephew, Amos, and his best friend, John, from South Carolina, who are spending one year in Brazil between college and graduate school. Amos' father, Jerman, was one of the first students in the Hope program in Ethiopia. His father didn't have a pair of shoes or a real pair of pants until he was about 12. His village gathered money to send him to school. That's where he met the Smiths. They unofficially adopted him, and later, when the war broke out in Ethiopia—helped him immigrate to the U.S. He now is Dr. Jerman DiSassa, a university professor in South Carolina and head of a program, CHAMPS that helps give inner city kids a chance at an education. Anyway, his oldest son, Amos is with us for a year.

We celebrated with Philip's Christmas Eve tradition. While living in Ethiopia, his family always spent the night before Christmas enjoying rare treats, like Swiss Miss, with tiny marshmallows, grilled cheese sandwiches—with real cheddar cheese, M&Ms, sweet pickles and potato chips. Strange—I know, but traditions are important. After the boys opened their presents, they went back to the graduate house (a home we have where our City of Youth boys stay for six months after they leave the ranch.)

So, at about 1.a.m. Philip and I settled in our beanbag chair under the Christmas tree. With the windows open, warm breeze blowing through the house, we opened our presents to each other. And that was our Christmas.

We spent New Year's on the beach with some friends. Our kids are on their "summer break" until February. About half leave on the 25th and spend their vacation with any viable family contact we can establish—a grandparent, an Aunt, an older sister or brother. No matter how bad the situation has been, our children always long for a relationship with the person who gave them life. That's one of the reasons sharing with them about the love of their Heavenly Father is doubly important. The summer break is particularly hard on the 40 percent or so of our kids who have absolutely no one who wants them home—so they stay with us. We fill the time with games, as mentioned above, summer camps and other outings. It is a special time for us, because with a smaller group, we get more quality time with each child. Also, these are the kids that need us most. We value this time of year.