Happy Holidays!!!

I love this time of the year! Things slow down, I reflect back upon the year that is almost expiring, and begin to cherish even more those moments with my family and friends. Though schedules are hectic and the precious time always slips through our fingers, it's important to think about quality, not quantity of how we spend the time we have.

My young family is really good building traditions over the years, both before we became parents and now that we are happy parents. We officially start the holidays with a great Thanksgiving meal with family and friends and making the pilgrimage to the Tree Farm to select our Christmas tree (Fraser Fir, 9 foot tall). We then start to think about our annual holiday letters and Holiday/Christmas cards to mail to family and friends. And for our girls, we welcome our LeBaby Elf to the household after we've decorated our tree and the house. These are important traditions as they help us rejoice in what we want to wish and share for our loved ones, how we want to celebrate together and save memories for the future about any particular season, and enjoy the hope and magic of Christmas in our children.

I am lucky that my wife is wonderful at planning photo sessions; my part is recapping the journey on the annual holiday letter from the family. We team up great to put these two together for sure.

My lovely wife picks out our outfits for the photo, ensuring everyone looks their best and matches in colors and styles. She also ensures we have the best setting for photos and that we have a variety of shots from which to choose our best featured photos for the final card. She meticulously creates special designs and messages for the card at that point, and selects the best color schemes to match our theme. Finally, she compiles our list of recipients for the year. I have yet to see this year's card but judging by our last few years, I have a feeling it will be fantastic for sure!

Over the years, we have found that our recipients love our holiday letter and the detail and photos we provide. They too, have picked out their own tradition of writing a letter for others which has been quite flattering to us. As I write this, I am proud to say that this year has been the best letter yet and I am looking forward to next year's holiday letter.

And as for our Elf, the children love to find the little lady in her new landing place each day in December through Christmas Eve. They get up every morning and search the entire house of the spot our Elf has chosen for the day. I have witnessed the children share letters, toys, and special wishes with the Elf to make sure she knows they are nice and quick to forget any "naughty" acts. They believe, and keep believing, and we are just so blessed to have that magic around us each day.

We have also established family time, and events, that we designate to continue to bond, enjoy, and create memories together. This season, we have made it a point to focus upon and celebrate Advent at church and our home, pray at home, and attend mass every Sunday as a family. We have also planned to visit Santa and have breakfast with him and for the first time, he will be sharing presents with the girls live and in person! Moreover, we are attending a festival with Santa and a lights display extravaganza at the Zoo. The girls are so excited about this and cannot wait for the day. And of course, we will be hosting Christmas at home and having supper and then heading over the Christmas Eve mass to enjoy carols and the Eucharist and message as our Savior is born into our hearts once again.

I am slowly soaking the time and all these wonderful feelings this season. I want to pause and take in all that I am experiencing because my heart is overjoyed with the love that is around me at home. I am pausing and slowing down with my own work so as to make it extra special to remember the moments that will be with me in my heart forever. My family appreciates that but it is me who will look back into these days, perhaps with nostalgia in the future, and know that all the little things we did and traditions were completely worth it at a time when we needed them most.

Happy Holidays to everyone and may you cherish every moment with your family and friends and have a blessed season.