Thank you for the gifts

I feel like it's been too long, that perhaps I have neglected you (my faithful few readers) in not posting very often this holiday season. But I only feel half bad because many of the others blogs I follow are a week or two behind as well. Life with kids takes first spot, blogging is just a secondary!

But I really do have LOTS of neat and sweet things that I could write about. And TONS of precious photos that tell enough stories of their own. But I'll just start with a few favorites:

* Preston is precious! That's all I know to say about my boy. I love his smile, his joy first thing in the morning, his constant squealing & new words . . . . I absolutely love him to pieces! Thank You God for this gift of innocence.

* Leah experienced a Christmas to remember; from her first visit to see the Nutcracker (she was mesmerized) to a bag FULL of princess dress-up clothes from Santa . . . to never ending birthday celebrations and most importantly her regular daily visits, meetings, live interpretations , and sermons with Mary, Jofus, and baby Jesus! She believes and it's a beautiful thing to witness! Thank you God for the gift of watching a childlike faith as it grows . . . .

* Everyone was together . . . well almost everyone. As you know we had a year of testing in that Mary (Gran) Bagwell has been treated for breast cancer through a mastectomy in September and 4 rounds of chemo. She's doing beautifully and looks beautiful, too. It was a happy time to have all of us together this holiday. . . amidst the chaos that Christmas can bring, it was precious time that we will certainly hold close all year long!

I say almost everyone, because my sister Nancy could not come home from NYC this holiday b/c she is getting married in March. And if you've ever planned a wedding, you know that every penny counts! So instead, she spent Christmas Day with Dave, my soon to be brother, and they started some new & fun holiday traditions of their own. Thinking about the way we celebrate when we're just married, no kids, no real Christmas to plan except for ourselves . . . it's simple and sweet and I told Nancy to enjoy it, savor it, and start some new traditions to build on through the years. They dressed up for a nice home cooked dinner in their small Brooklyn apartment and sent me a photo of their quaint evening . . .

. . . looking at it, I said that they would always remember their first Christmas together, when things were tight, gifts were few, but they were happy & in love . . .where it all begins! Thank you God for this gift of family!!!

* Today is Michael's birthday and I just couldn't have dreamed up a better husband and father! It's sad to me that the older we get the less celebrating we do for ourselves, and since Michael has never been big on his birthday, we laid around the house all day and went out for an early dinner tonight- but if I could have done anything for him, I would have planned the biggest bash this side of Vegas and invited friends, old & new, to party on into his 33rd year! I sure do love you babe and appreciate all that you do . . . Thank you God for the gift of . . . Michael.