December 23

Our Christmas tree has been up and illuminated since a few days after Thanksgiving, but we only got around to adding ornaments today after church. I have a huge collection of them that dates back to my very early childhood days, but this year, I decided we should keep it simple and use only the ones the kids have made over the years. It's always a heartwarmer for me to pull the bejeweled and glitter-doused picture frames, the dough cut-outs, and the paper Lightning McQueens from that box I keep safely atop the bookshelf in our room, and the sentiment was no different this go-round.

Another no-so-different experience followed when we'd finished the decorating and us grown-ups asked the short people to pose for pictures. There was grousing of course, and then there was the requisite amount of Wight silliness. This is actually one of the tamer pics in the sequence Adam snapped.

If I leave this year with any grand revelation, it'll be that this life is hard. But it's also exciting and challenging and filled with opportunities to be --and do-- better. And sometimes --like this picture suggests-- it's even kind of fun. So for that blessing --and for me being open to seeing it-- I'm thankful.