November 25

It was a Black Friday rife with Wight family tradition.

Although this year's sales were lackluster, the shopping trip with Abby was decidedly not. We had an initial fuel-up at the Mother Ship (hot chocolate for her, coffee for me) and McDonald's (for her beloved sausage McMuffin with egg) before taking stops at Walmart, Old Navy, Ulta, Target, JoAnn, and a few stores in the mall before we closed out the festivities with late lunch at the Cheesesteak Shop. It was, in short, a valuable half-day of bonding with my one and only girl. And lame sales aside, I wouldn't trade those moments for any others.

After we returned from our outing, we took a brief breather before heading out again --this time with the boys-- to pick out our Christmas tree. (Well, the live one anyway. Adam put up the artificial one that sits in the front window while Abby and I were out.) I wound up selecting the eventual winner this go-round, and as Adam checked out and oversaw its placement atop the truck for the trip home, the kiddos and I engaged in a silly photo session in front of the big "NOEL" sign. They were eager to recreate a pose from last year that featured Isaac lifting Abby and Brady off the ground, and they actually rose to the task admirably. (Although now that I'm looking at my collage, I realize that the photo isn't included. Oops.)

Anyway, as I noted at the beginning of this entry, it was a day filled with tradition. So for those traditions --and for their fulfillment today-- and for the way that repeating them year in and year out allows me to inhale and exhale sweet memories of days gone by, I am very thankful.