The Season

Hi!  How are you?  Have you been just as busy as I have been?  On Saturday morning I said goodbye to my boys.  They are now in Utah enjoying some of the best snow.  They will be there until the end of the month.  I know you are probably wondering if the girls and I are going to join them and the answer is no.  We celebrated Christmas on Thursday.  The children went to school like normal, but when they got home Santa had come to our house. We ate a feast fit for a king and then just like every year Frank read the Christmas story.  Afterward, we opened gifts.  It was perfect!  I am thinking we should do it this way every year.  It sure beats the children waking up at the crack of dawn so they can rush downstairs to open gifts.  Why didn't we just all go to Utah or why didn't the boys just wait to go to Utah after Christmas?  When we were planning the trip to Utah we knew we wanted to go before Christmas because the slopes are not as crowded and with living on the east coast you always need a day or two to acclimate to the higher elevation. We made the decision for the girls and me to stay home because the girls don't ski and it just didn't make sense to fly us out there just to sit in a hotel.  I suppose I could have gone and taken the girls to visit friends as we have a lot of friends both in and out of the adoptive community; however, it is a huge expense to just go out and see friends and with going to Germany this summer we decided to save the money for that trip.  My mother and father are coming over on Christmas day along with some friends who have no place to go. My uncle may come in the evening with his girls for some dessert. We won't be alone!

In other news, I was invited to a party last week that was so much fun.  It was called These Are a Few of My Favorite Things.  Each person brings something they adore and brings enough of those items to share with others. I made peppermint bark pretzel sticks.  Another attendant made bath salts infused with lavender oil. Another friend brought 3 of her favorite herbal teas for each of us to try. Besides walking away with a bag full of fun things, it was fun to hang out with my friends.   

On Saturday night, the girls and I were invited to a friend's farm where she organized a live nativity play followed by a Christmas sing-along.  The girls had a good time sitting around the campfire and drinking hot cocoa. The girls didn't really get the concept of being quiet during the performance. Glad I didn't try to take them to the Nutcracker this year. How have you been celebrating this holiday season?  

Luke 2:16

"And they came with haste, and found Mary, 

and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger."