Christmas Eve!

We made cookies for Santa. Left them out with a glass of milk and carrots for the reindeer. I guess he ate them all up, they were actually (surprisingly) really good!



A rare photo of me cooking...because, well, it's a rare event! But I liked it so much I plan on doing it more (later tonight, in fact). Not so tough, afterall.



Someone had a really hard time falling asleep last night and was up until after 1:30am, reading books and you know...checking to see if Santa had come already. ;-) I don't think I've ever seen her quite so excited.



We remembered Vivian and Annemarie, and all the babies gone too soon. We thought a lot about my Grandpa, and Steven, and how we wish they were here to celebrate Christmas this year. Even though I know they have an amazing seat in Heaven, it still would have been better (for us) if they had been here to celebrate the holiday. I thought a lot about how much they are missed and how that means they were (and are) loved.
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I thought a lot about Ginger, and how two Christmasses ago, she was just a dream to me. And now here she is, and I could not be more thankful for the gift of her life. As I was putting her to sleep last night, I sang her Silent Night, and it seemed so fitting, and magical all at the same time.



Because Paprika didn't go to bed until the very wee hours, we didn't start wrapping presents until the even wee-er hours. Which meant we got to bed very late (around 4am), just as Ginger was waking up and asking to be brought to our big bed. Two hours later, Paprika was in our bedroom asking to open presents. And...well...that is a story for another post!

Merry Christmas! I hope your Christmas was magical, and if it couldn't be magical this year because you are hurting or missing someone you love very much, I hope that it was at least as good as it could be under the circumstances. Sometimes that's all we can hope for...this year was the first year I felt like celebrating even a little bit again, and to me, that was hopeful.

Peace, love and light to you and yours!