Home for the Holidays

I am fortunate to have two separate friends who have been intentional for years about including us in their family activities. And so, we spent Christmas Eve at one home and Christmas Evening at the other. I have known one family for 15 years and the other for almost 30. They have walked through college, marriage, divorce and adoption with me. They know me and they love me without reservation.

One of these friends once picked me up from the airport when I was in particularly rough shape and just gave me a huge hug and said (in her South Carolinean drawl) "Baaaay-be! You just need to stay around people that LOVE you!" Through both her words and actions, she has demonstrated true friendship.

The other friend is one of a HUGE Italian family. I walked into her home Christmas Day and was surrounded by food, kids, music, food, people, food, babies, dogs, food... (seeing a theme here?). It was the exactly what I needed: unconditional love, acceptance and family. While I am separated by thousands of miles from my biological family, I am never that far away from the love of two friends who have given of themselves and given to me and my daughter... a place we call family. It is the best gift of all.

I just LOVE this time of year!

During our trip to New England last summer, Isabel was given several Barbie DVDs (Thanks, Livvy!). One of them was Barbie Nutcracker which Isabel quickly fell in love with! I knew then that her big Christmas/birthday gift would be to go see the Ballet in December. The decision was... when? We have several showings in our city and I really wanted her first experience at a ballet to be a wonderful experience. I spent quite a bit of time online looking and was finally able to get some great seats. (We were in the seventh row.)

When we went to the symphony for the first time in October, Isabel ended up falling asleep before it was over. So, I really didn't think she would hang in there for the whole dance performance but, much to my surprise, she did. I think having some friends along helped keep her interest. We went with two other girls from China and discovered some more friends were seated just a few rows behind us.

From the theater, we visited a dear friend's home for a nice Christmas party before heading out to see the annual Luminaries in a nearby neighborhood. We stopped by the live nativity scene and then took a ride in the horse-drawn carriage, singing carols. It was wonderful...even without snow!

I just love this time of year.

The Good News and the Bad News...

... regarding THIS year's Gingerbread House.

The Good News is that the roof didn't slide off like last year's. (See the first three pictures)

The Bad News is that the bag of coconut for the "snow" wasn't sealed tightly when I shook it rigorously. [I'll let your imagination picture what my just-vacuumed living room ended up looking like.]

December 2008

December 2009

Bethlehem, Breakfast and Book Club

Last weekend was a busy weekend (although... when is any weekend NOT busy in December?) with a visit to an amazing re-enactment of the town of Bethlehem on Friday night, Breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning (Thanks, Melissa!), our annual FCC ornament exchange later that afternoon, and our December book club that night. A packed day... to say the least!

Soldiers Guarding the Entrance to Bethlehem

Breakfast with Santa, Mrs. Claus and Rudolph

Our Amazing Group of FCC Women