whirlwind . . .

Well, all I can think of to say is that it's been a wild ride, this past week or so (and I'm not talking about the tornado watch we're currently under)!

We had a lovely Christmas . . . but there were some sad things, too.  Most notably, my dad went to the hospital by ambulance on Monday, December 20, with an exacerbated COPD episode. We (and the doctors) had hoped he would be home by Christmas, but complications arose and that was not to be.  He came home late this afternoon, by the same method he went.  Hospice has been called in, but as my dad stresses, it's for comfort care, not end-of-life care.  ♥

It's an odd thing to balance all these emotions. On the one hand, I spent the week before Christmas meeting with stitching friends, baking, wrapping, and watching Christmas movies. 

Our traditional Buche de Noel dessert!

I got a sweet photo of ballerina Olivia with the congratulatory bouquet we sent her for her performance in The Nutcracker:

We spent a lovely Christmas Eve with the local grandgirls—Oh! and grandson!—and their parents. 

This was the first year we departed from tradition and allowed the girls to open their gifts from us on Christmas Eve.  It was actually lovely!  

Santa Baby!

Edith spotting Santa from the top of the fire truck ... a tradition in their neighborhood!

Then Todd and I enjoyed a sweet Christmas morning together exchanging gifts and celebrating the birth of our Savior!

But in the back of my mind, through it all, was my dad and mom, if I wasn't at the hospital with him/them. I'm so glad he's finally home today and am looking forward to the opportunity to celebrate with him when he's home (he didn't want to do so while in the hospital) and settled!

I also feel the distance of my son and his family all the more keenly over the holidays.

Luckily, this Christmas, all the kiddos got iPads, with the ability to text and FaceTime certain key family members (like ME!!), when they want to ... which is so lovely!! I chatted back and forth with all three of them on Christmas day, and on Sunday, June, Olivia and I had a FT tea party!

It was such fun.  Olivia used the tea set we had gotten her for Christmas.  What a lovely way to 'break it in'.  Cheers!

I did receive a very lovely assortment of quilty/stitchy gifts from family and friends . . . 

I also got a digital subscription to Punch Needle & Primitive Stitcher.  What fun! The nice thing is that it (1) allows you to download and print the quarterly issues and (2) you have access to the past year's issues!  Then, as if all that wasn't enough (and not including all the lovely non-stitching gifts I got), Todd got me this wonderful sign for my nook:

Isn't that just perfect??!! It made me cry, I was so touched by this very unexpected gift. ♥

We have had temps in the 70's this past week.  One day we spent outside, touring around the camp.

It was so nice, I even put my feet in the creek ... can you imagine?!  We also went down to the marina and pulled the pontoon out of the water, for its annual service/maintenance.  

We drove it around for just a bit before putting it on the trailer.  I mean, if you can, you do!

So, like I said ... full of activity and fun ... but also hard times.  Life is like that, isn't it?  Looking forward to a new year filled with laughter, love, family and friends.  Wishing that for YOU, too!

:)