Sisters.

Our mothers knew each other before we did.  Our sisters, who are the same age, knew each other before we did.  Peter and I were the last to this family party.

Linda and I have known each other for years.  We've always lived in different (mostly far-away) cities but we've managed to share some family holidays together and then, recently, spent time together celebrating her Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary.  But in all these years, we've never actually spent much time together - just the two of us.  Until this Christmas.

I was so excited when I heard that she was coming.  It was going to be so great for her parents to be surprised to see her, I knew that Peter would treasure the time that he got to spend with her, plus she's the super-cool-funny-aunt-that-laughs-at-everything-my-kids-say so I knew that they would love seeing her.  But I hadn't really given any thought to how her visit would affect me.

I was weary leading up to Christmas.  I had a lot going on and was feeling overwhelmed by some of the things happening around me.  Linda arrived and my stresses melted away.  After everyone else had gone to bed, we would sit up talking - sharing old and new stories of family and of our very different lives.  She was my late night laughing partner and she brought such a special joy to the couple of days that she spent with us.  

It wasn't until after she left that I realized that in all the years we'd known each other, I'd never really spent time with her and, now that I have, I can't wait to do it some more.

Looking Back: Christmas

With the arrival of an ice storm right before Christmas this year, we counted ourselves amoung the lucky ones that were blessed with the beauty of the ice storm and not the inconvenience of losing our hydro over Christmas.  In fact we were fortunate that Peter's Mom and Dad were able to drive the five hours to our place on clear roads and arrive safely to spend a few days with us before they headed south for Florida.

This year we were joined by Peter's sister, Linda, who decided only a few weeks earlier to fly from Belize and spend the holidays with us.  And, for fun, Peter and Linda decided not to tell their parents she was coming.  Such a great a surprise!  When she walked through the door, their looks of shock, disbelief, and then happiness was such a gift to witness.  We could have called Christmas off in that moment and we all would have been okay with it.

But we couldn't call it off with Santa waiting.  After all, he had some last minute tips for Peter.

We missed Sheldon this year at our Christmas Eve skate (he had to work) but the rest of us had a blast!

It was a pretty low key year for gifts but the big surprises were for Juliana and Peter.

Juliana had been asking for her own cell phone for months. She even wrote us a two page letter on why she needed it and how she would raise money to help pay for a plan.  Apparently it was quite compelling because she actually made me re-think the idea and, in the end, that's what we got for her.  I love this photo of the moment she took it out of the box partly because her under-stated smile is Juliana trying really hard to contain her excitement, and partly because her under-stated smile is identical to my Dad's smile when he felt the same way.

This year I've been watching Peter embrace his music and I decided to surprise, nay, shock him with his own iPad to load up on song tabs for his gigs, and to take on the road to amuse him.  I dare say that shocked thing worked!

And for the dogs who never get any attention from anyone, Linda gave them so much love that they mourned for days after she left.

 
Our Christmas this year:  beautiful snow, family, skating, constant noshing, and endless laughter. So many memories made.

Looking Back: December

It's been a few false starts during this long, cold winter but I think I'm ready for a return.  I'm starting to notice an itch to get back to the business of documenting our days.  But before I can go forward, I need to go backward - just to fill the black blog hole of December to March because there was some light in those days that shouldn't be forgotten.

Like when Juliana and her service group dressed up as Minions for their Despicable Me float in the Santa Claus parade.

Or when Juliana got to reunite with her cousins Lucy and Simon when the two of us flew out west to visit.

In early December, Peter participated in an Open Mic night with his friends Darrin, Amy, and Jeff.   Parental Discretion also spent many Wednesday nights rehearsing in our basement for their party at the Legion a few days later.  (I know, I know.  Our lights are burned out.  After I took this, I went straight to Ikea to replace our stars!)

I felt like the Christmas season had finally arrived the night that we went with Mom to a local Christmas show filled with great music.

Finally, only days before Christmas, we finally found time to go and pick out our tree.

Um, Juliana?  Watch out….oh, never mind!

This is the closest that I can get to a photo with my boy.

Chocolate making:  Sheldon's friend joined Juliana and I for our girl's afternoon.

Apparently Lucy is ready for Christmas.

Next up:  celebrating with family.