As I awoke to the faint sounds of bells drifting through my frost-covered window, I jumped out of bed and sprinted downstairs to my waiting brothers and sisters in the kitchen. Deciding to wake our parents, we crept into their bedroom. To our surprise, they were not only awake but dressed in summer clothes on Christmas Day in New England! We asked why they were dressed this way, but they would not give us a straight answer.

We made our way back down to the Christmas tree and the presents in the family room. Each of my five brothers and sisters started opening presents and we were all puzzled about why we were receiving Mickey and Minnie Mouse paraphernalia. My older brother, who was ten, began to put the pieces together and finally yelled, “Are we going to Disney World?” My whole family was so excited as my parents led us into the dining room and we saw that they had packed our luggage. The next thing we knew, we jumped into the car and made our way to the airport to catch our 8:45 a.m. flight to Florida.

Approaching the check-in counter, I nearly fell over when one of my eight cousins appeared and told me that her family would be coming with us! All 17 of us parents and kids boarded the plane in anticipation of what had to be the best Christmas gift ever.