santa's on his way.....

dear friends, 

i don't know what most of you will be doing for christmas today and tomorrow, but i hope whatever it is, you're surrounded by the softness of love and the comfort of laughter. for those of you struggling, for whatever reason, to get through this holiday season with a smile on your face or happiness in your heart, i hope you find the strength you've been searching for.

*

christmas isn't my favorite holiday, as i get angry with so much of it unfortunately falling into the materialistic cauldron, that can burn your tongue or fill you up depending on how much of it you want to sip, but i do love the fact that it brings us all together. 

today we'll be at my sister's house, as we have been now for years, where laughter raises the roof, the singing hurts your ears {well only if you hear my voice} the food fills us up until we can barely walk and the games we play find out who's the most competitive. {oh, and there's a few presents in there, too...but just a few} and when it's all said and done, and the day has become dark and our eyelids are heavy, there's not one of us that would trade all of that for anything else in this world.

merry christmas everyone

*

impossible to do....

i've decided it's impossible 

to actually share the love and laughter found at my sister's house on christmas day

but hope these photos will always remind us of the fun we had

~

unfortunately 

i don't have photos of the duck hunt 

{and john getting taken out by the so called flying duck}

 or the 12 days of christmas sung using the names of beer

{where bill's "good beer" brought us all to tears...of laughter}

or jim's christmas meat or even a photo of myself

{so i put my sister in twice since people say we look alike}

but 

i do have new memories and new laugh lines that are extremely deep

~

the day was not long enough 

but 

we had enough food for a few more families

{hello leftovers}

and

then late last night our packers beat the bears

{talk about icing on the cake to an already perfect day}

*

i hope your christmas was as beautiful as ours.

in some of the photos you can see how brilliant the sun was the entire day and even hot if you were sitting in it. 

thank you wisconsin. i loved your warm and green christmas this year.

twas the night before christmas....

actually

it's the morning before christmas

and

i just wanted to take this time to let you all know 

how very dear you are to me

your support and love throughout this year

has helped me climb the path that's in front of me 

often 

with you at the top telling me to keep going

and

your constant words of wisdom 

have acted like bumper pads

as i've bounced around in the ups and downs of life

this little corner of the world

where my words and photos come alive

is so special to me

and

all of you have been a part of it

when i've been out on a limb

you've been there to catch me 

and

pray with me or for me

and

laugh with me when i needed it the most

thank you

all of you

for being you

and

sharing you with me

while i've shared me with you

~

may you all be blessed with the merriest and happiest christmas 

surrounded by those you love

and

those that love you right back

*