These are a few of my favorite things

• 

Friends

 Big sisters and little sisters

Brothers and sisters

Girls going shopping with their babies

Sons

boys and their toys

Twins

Family 

                                                             New Bikes for everyone.

This Christmas the Lord has allowed us all to be together.

So many friends that I think about don't have loved ones with them this year.

I remember. 

I count my eight and wrap deeper in my robe and sip my coffee and whisper,

"Thank you, Lord for giving us this celebration".

This gift of time that we have as a family. This time is

a gift because as my children grow older they will

have their own homes and celebrate their own Christmas's but for

now I still get the privilege of sharing their time uninterrupted.

Watching them give.

Seeing them receive.

Watching them ride across this land with their new bikes and know

that one day this land might be bike-less and 

I will remember.

Christmas 2011