So much is happening....the time is just swirling around me and in the midst of it all lives are changing, love is expanding, and milestones are noticed, celebrated, and then promptly forgotten as new milestones take their place. Life with two...it is amazing...and awe inspiring..and, at times, downright exhausting.
The holidays were really something to behold...Rhea was so entranced with it all...the magic was really very alive. Tangible even. We are a lucky, lucky little family of four. Something about seeing our stockings all together, seeing Stashu's name in beautiful gold script, made it all so real. Here we are living the moments that will hopefully become the memories my children will cherish on down the road. Again I can't express how lucky I feel. So I'm going to rely on some pictures to help me get this blog moving again.
Our Autumnal season began with a lovely lantern walk through Glen Canyon...I had joined other parents from Rhea's preschool in lantern making evenings full of laughter and sticky glue and impressed even myself with my ability to make a working lantern and embrace my crafty side. During our lean financial times this season this crafty side was an absolute bonus...and actually found our little family crafting together in ways I never would have imagined. Here is a shot of some of the lanterns hanging in the trees while we all sat around a bonfire in the woods (in the middle of the city..but you would have never known) eating baked potatoes, drinking hot cider and generally enjoying each others company.
Then came Thanksgiving...a sit down affair for 18! This shot is of Rhea giving the blessing before the meal. (and yes..I have since taken some of those finger prints off the windows behind us! You can also see one of our lanterns hanging above the table) Not everyone is represented in this shot but it is the best one I have..and it was a wonderful day full of thanks with a mix of old friends and family..new friends and lots of laughs.
Our tree hunting the next day was HILARIOUS...I happen to have a recap I sent to our friends Jamie and Samy and I will share it here because I recorded this when it was all fresh in my mind and don't think I could do it better a second time:
Man oh man did you miss a madcap fiasco of a tree getting adventure yesterday. We decided to try a new place...drove almost all the way to Santa Cruz (in the on and off rain and with an on and off screaming baby) to arrive at a very quaint tree farm. Fire pit, giant swings, all you could eat marshmallow's...and no trees. That's right all the trees were dwarf sized and crazy looking. Oh and did I mention it was pouring while we trampled through the mud looking at the deformed dwarf trees? With Evelyn screaming because of a marshmallow incident. Oh and Mary got car sick and had to duck behind said dwarf trees to relieve herself.
We left that place and headed back to 92 now with a baby that was screaming nonstop..and stopped by the side of the road to purchase an already cut tree. Yeah. And mine is short narrow and crooked. But I am pretending it is perfect because Rhea thinks it is so I have decided only to express my true feelings via email....would be outrageous to make her think her Christmas tree is anything less than perfect just because I'm such a weirdo. I'm sure once we have it all decorated it will be beautiful. So to make a long story short if you were going to miss a year..this was the one to miss! We will be back at Mackenzie ranch from here to eternity from now on.
This picture from Evelyn really captures it all :)
Okay..now the italics won't shut off...but I will not let this deter me from getting this post out!
Our next big celebration was Rhea's birthday...her third birthday to be exact. I can't believe my little girl is getting to be so much of a big girl. Below you will find pictures from her special school birthday, her new birthday ring and a shot just after she blew out the candles at home! My favorite memory of that day was the way she really thought about her "birthday wish" for a good long time before blowing out the candles. That and the amazing dollhouse that all of our friends chipped in to get for her.
Our next big celebration was our annual "Fake Christmas"...and I can't even believe I don't have a single picture from that evening. It was really a beautiful gathering. Sit down for 19 (needed to one-up Thanksgiving) and purely magical with all the kids really bringing home the spirit of the season. It might have been my favorite "Fakemas" to date.
Then of course...Christmas...oh my I don't even have the words for how sweet it was. Rhea running to check the cookies to see if Santa had come...her excitement at actually getting her "baby with the pacifier on her wrist" (that Santa had spent hours looking for to make sure it was of the phthalate free variety). And her overall joy. Unbelievable. I am in love in a whole new way with the Christmas season...who could have imagined. There are so many shots I could leave you with...but will pick just a few.
So there you have it Grammy...Merry Christmas...I love you.
