I still had a few days before Christmas and I had finally figured out what I wanted to get Eli. I recalled our conversation a few nights ago about how hard it was to be away from family. I fished around in my bag and pulled out my camera that I had hastily packed a few weeks ago. At that point, I had no clue how important it may be to me, but now it was key to my gift.

I wanted to get something he needed, but something that wasn’t like clothes or something weird like that. I wanted it to be personal and to show how much I cared about him. I wanted him to be able to remember his time here with his family, and maybe even me. I wanted this to be memorable for all of us. So, what better way than to capture all of these moments together in pictures to document his time home in D.C. I smiled, pleased with my plan and checked my carmera, making sure I had enough memory and battery for the time being. And then, once I was satisfied with it, I set out, back downstairs, with a plan of action and the perfect gift in mind.

For the next couple of days I took pictures of everything. I took pictures of the Kim family all hanging out on the couch drinking cocoa. Then, I was able to snap the picture of Minah leaning over to whipe whipped cream onto Eli's face. Then, when Eli returned the favor and smeared whipped cream on her face too. But, the best of all was when the two were done with their little fight and they just sat there laughing their heads off next to eachother. That was definatly a keeper.

Eventually they all began to notice all my pictures and began questioning me about it. Not wanting to give away the surprise, I just told them it was something I liked to do just before Christmas. Capturing the moments just before the big day was the best, and I especially wanted to remember this Christmas with them. This was the truth, I did want to remember, but most of all I wanted Eli to remember.

~~~

Christmas Eve came and I went out to get the last part of my gift completed. I got the best pictures printed, a couple frames, and a photo book. I snuck back in the house and locked myself into my room for the next couple of hours. I filled the book with all of the best photos I had taken over the past few days and stuck the best picture of the whole family into the frames I had bought. Finally I finished up, wrapped up all of the gifts and went to take them downstairs.

“Woah!” Eli said as I came out of my room, arms ladden with gifts, “Need some help Santa?” I laughed,

“Sure, take these.” He smiled and took the packages from me and we began down the stairs. He peered at them all curiously,

“So, which one’s mine?” He asked nonchalantly. I smiled and shook my head. He groaned, “Fine! I won’t tell you where yours is either.” That made me pause for a minute. For some reason it had never occurred to me that he would get me a gift. “What?” he asked. I shook my head,

“Oh, n-nothing!” I hurried along then and put everything under the tree.

I appologize for being so long! School is my main focus and has been taking over my life! There's a few more chapter's left, and I'll try to update again this week! Please be patient! I do intend to finish, so its not like I'd ever abandon this! I missed you all, but life can be crazy. :/