Winter

If every day should be Christmas, we didn't do too badly this year. We had three separate Christmas celebrations over the course of December. My oldest sister and her two young children joined us in the new house for the first week. It was joy to get to see my niece and nephew, whom I haven't seen in well over a year. As the week went on, we were joined by my parents, 2nd sister, and youngest sister and her husband. In mid-December, Craig's siblings came over for a joint birthday party for Craig's brother and a Christmas party. Finally, on Christmas day, the four of us - Craig, myself, and the boys - settled down for a quiet celebration that included a reading of the Christmas story from the Bible, the blowing out of candles on Christmas cupcakes for Jesus, and the opening gifts for one another.

As far as gift-recieving went, I clearly made out the best. As part of her Secret Santa gift to me, Craig's youngest sister, Kaity, volunteered to tend to Andrew and William for 4 days and 3 nights while Craig and I jet off to an island destination in late January. Ever a fan of a good surprise, I've made Craig promise to not tell me where we're going. Barring the week that we left Andrew to go pick up William in Taiwan, this will be the first time we've ever had more than a night away from the boys. Kaity, dear - I really owe you a kidney or two. Thank you, thank you!!

While he was in town, we were blessed to have my father accompany us on our yearly visit to a local Christmas tree farm. Following a hayride pulled by draft horses, he patiently endured our 45-minute deliberation over trees that, to him, probably all looked alike.

Speaking of my father, I would appreciate your continued prayers for him. While it appeared that his prostate cancer was successfully removed over a year ago, a recent scan indicated that a small portion went undetected and remains active. In early January, he will undergo several weeks of radiation therapy to treat it. We are prayerfully optimistic for a good outcome.

The day after Christmas, we, along with much of the East Coast, were visited by a minor blizzard that left a good 10 or so inches of snow in our town. The boys suited up and headed out for some frigid fun.

Andrew dug a tunnel through one of the snow banks.

I didn't get many good shots of William. Much of what I have is either ill-lit or features the poor guy with boogers running down his nose or his hat falling over his eyes. In the photo above, I was aiming for a shot of both boys smiling happily at me, but alas, it was not to be. Overcome by his twisty hat, cold snow on his face, and frozen appendages, William started crying miserably and had to be rushed indoors, stat.