Soaking It In...

Soon we will take down the decorations...

The house will no longer sparkle and shine...

But tonight my handsome hubby and I stole a few hours together to watch a movie by the light of the tree...

Saying good-bye to Christmas...

Saying good-bye to 2011...

My Little Explorers...

Kannon's Mischief...

I do my best...

To make each morning magical...

To give them something to look forward to when I get home from work...

A Christmas activity each day in our advent calendar...

{courtesy of the elf of course}...

Painting, movies, books to read, local light displays, funny hats and Dollar Tree shopping for gifts from the boys...

And my hope...

{as I stay up later and get up earlier}...

Is that...

 Even though one day their hand will no longer reach for mine...

They will have families of their own {GASP}...

And will no longer run from their bedrooms to see where the elf has landed...

When they look back...

Christmas will not have only been about the PRESENTS they receive...

But about the gifts of the season...

 Love...

Joy...

Family...

And

Faith...

The greatest gifts we will ever give...

To the most precious gifts we were ever given...

I am linking to a super fun Elf on the Shelf party here...

Second Annual Polar Express...

Last year we took the boys to Branson for a ride on the Polar Express...
Some of our best friends and their kiddos joined us...

But Kam was a little too young and Daddy spent most of the trip chasing him around the train...

This year our friends made it an annual event...
 And with the boys being older...
It was a magical event for all...

Finding the bell still rings for each of us...

It's The Unexpected That Gets Me...

This week it was Little Debbie cakes...

In the middle of Dollar General...

Last weekend it was the Alfred Dunner Outlet...

Other times it's a photo I wasn't expecting to see...

A snapshot of her opening a Christmas gift from my Aidan Kale...

The way she smiled broadly as if a strainer was something she'd wanted for her entire life...

A photo of her in 3-D glasses...
 Watching Cats and Dogs in the movie theater...

And just when I think it's safe...

I dry my tears and am forging ahead...

The unexpected strikes like a paper cut...
Painful and bleeding...
Tender for a few days...
We don't expect the holidays to be easy...
We know they will be difficult...
Filled with the reminder of loss...
But when you lose a loved one...
 Whom you've never known life without...
Whose being was so closely intertwined with your own...
There is the bittersweet realization that the memories you cherish are the ones that will also bring you to your knees...
For the most part our daily routine has returned...
Our lives are back to normal...
A new normal...
Dealing with the unexpected as it arises...
Missing her every single day...  

Merry Christmas from Our Family to YOURS...

Free digital ecard generated with Smilebox

Saving Lives One Day At A Time...

I Tried To Take Pictures for Our Christmas Cards...

I am at a loss for where Aidan Kale came up with this pose...

Needless to say...

We are trying again...

I'm Not Gonna Lie...

This little cutie is growing on me...

Hanging Christmas Lights...

My husband did this...

And even looking at these pictures scares me to death...

Sometimes it is better if I don't know things until they are over...

Forgiveness rather than permission I suppose...

But in the end...

The lights looked beautiful...

And my baby made it down safe and sound...