Celebrating 38

We let him do "his thing" for his birthday... we know he loves to dig into a project, so we let him... We know he loves some "alone time"... so we gave him that, with just the right amount of snuggles and love... we know he loves good food, so we cooked him a yummy dinner and cake (homemade Nutella Cheesecake) and we know he enjoys a date night and spontaneous shopping, so I took him out for a new pair of hiking boots. We love you beyond measure... life is so much sweeter with you in it.

Christmas 2019

Christmas just snuck up on us this year... and as quickly as it arrived, it departed. It's become a sweet time of rest for us in this house. Lots of hustle and bustle usually comes with this beautiful day, the day of our Savior's birth... but over the years, learning to find rest and savor this day, has been life giving.

These are the things I want to remember:

- This was the year of the "sleeping bag"... every little received one, in hopes that they'll be used for future family camping trips!

-  Finn received his VERY FIRST Lego set... EVER. Dad put most of it together.

-  Dad implemented a rule, "When you're done opening a present, put the wrapping in the cardboard box (so we could just do a quick burn outside of it)"... Jo was the only one to follow said rule.

-  Jo was into opening everyone else's presents for them...

-  Mable just wanted to play with every gift she opened, instead of opening more and more.

-  Charlotte is obsessed with dolphins, hence many dolphin "things".

-  Charlotte and Marley received a "joint" present (a mini polaroid camera) and totally used up all the film in one day.

-  Marley created a crafting box... she declared it, "The best present for her crafting heart... EVER!"

-  We went to our favorite local beach to grab some fresh air... it's become a tradition over these last few years, and it did not disappoint. No red starfish sightings this year... maybe next year.

All Dolled Up

Lots of excitement, like every year, when the boxes (we only have 2 full of decorations) come out to decorate. Sometimes we have to wait a day or two to decorate, just because of our schedule... but not this year. As soon as the tree was in the house, we got straight to work. This was the first time in many, many, many years where we have been able to dress up our tree with ornaments and lights from the bottom all the way to the top. Can you believe it? We've finally hit the stage where the littles stop playing with all the ornaments and rather take in the sight. I never thought the day would come. We still are hiding our most precious ornaments (all the breakables are tucked away for a little bit longer), and we probably could use another strand or two of lights (our trees seem to be getting bigger and bigger each year), but I'd say she's a beaut. We dimmed the lights and gazed at her for quite awhile.

A list of things I'd like to remember:

- It feels like this was the year of the unicorn ornaments... all the girls got some version of unicorn. Marley's ballet cat unicorn, might be my favorite.

- Finn LOVES big foot/sasquatches... so his ornament was a snowy Big Foot.

- Mable calls the tree, "twitmas twee" and I smile each time she says, without correcting her.

- Jo is OBSESSED with knowing whose stockings are whose... and checks them every morning to see if anything is inside.

- Charlotte was delighted that I let her set up the entire mantle all by herself (without my help... Marley did insist on a few of the placements of bottle brush trees).

- Christmas music played, banana muffins eaten, and hot cocoa was sipped, and jokes were shared: "Why is the ornament obsessed with Christmas?"... "It's been hooked on trees it's whole life!"