December 22

Late this afternoon we drove up to Lafayette for our Christmas celebration with Adam's parents and his brother's family.

We did a quick nod to Brady's birthday with a (literal) donut as a cake and a few gifts, and then we built and baked our own pizzas for dinner. And then it was on to presents --with Theo serving as Santa-- and Christmas cookie consumption. 

We've taken a variation of this group photo for a number of years now; it's become such a fixture that I've grown accustomed to bringing my tripod along to make it easier to capture.

It's such a blessing to look at the series of images and be able to track how we've all grown and changed over time. (And by "all" I mean "the kids," because the adults all look the same. Exactly the same.) There is always pain that in the reality that Logan is missing, but little pieces of him are there in each of these faces; in each of these people who share family ties with him -- even the ones who were born after he went home to Heaven. And for that truth, I am grateful.