The Goodwin December Update, Part 2

Home for the Holidays

December was a crazy month. Besides the hustle and bustle of the beautiful holiday of Christmas, and the blink-and-it's-over holiday of New Year's Eve, I started working from home mid-month. It's a grand and timely blessing to be able to stay home and also provide resources for our family, but it also makes the delicate juggling act of home and work life all the more challenging. Amidst all of the festivities and change, I wanted to blog more - I really did - but time was not on my side and other things took precedence over these little snapshots & blurbs of our harried life.

But, in hopes of keeping some documentation that we did something this month, I wanted to share a little glimpse into our December, Part 2.

Moments with Benjamin

(L-R: 1. Benjamin's little accident at my work, sliding off the chair and biting his lip. I suppose that being in a hospital is the place to be when one's lip starts gushing blood. 2-3. Christmas tree antics - our mischievous elf who loved to constantly re-decorate the tree. 4-5. Making a "trail" of blankets into his room and bringing in all of his favorite books to read was a new adventure for me & my little buddy.)

And more...

(1. Benjamin LOVES non-fiction; Tractors & Cranes are two personal favorites from our recent library visit! 2. Pictures of "My Trail" or pile of blankets. 3. He was delighted to see Christmas lights in his window at night. 4. Our delivery box of Mint M&M Chocolate Cookies - a fun thing for me to make and for our family to deliver. 5. This kid loves his "trail" - can you tell?)

Christmas Eve with the Marchants

Before exchanging gifts, my dad read the Christmas story and my mom passed around a Christmas poem for everyone to read. I think their cozy living room is getting just a little snug these days, as the family continues to grow! After gifts, we ate turkey soup, rolls and loads of Christmas goodies. It was a nice to hang out with everyone (except, sadly, David's family) as we don't seem to get together very often these days.

Candy Cane Lane

On our way home from the Marchant gathering, we drove through CCL in Everett. It was packed, which was not surprising for the evening. However, we discovered the reason it was *so* packed was because they were taking food or money donations, neither of which we had in our car (I had no clue about that aspect of it). Needless to say, Santa seemed irked and didn't give us a candy cane as we slid past the collection station. Despite my little faux pas, the lights were decadently strewn along lawns, rooftops and branches; it was a truly stunning sight.

Views on Christmas Morning

We didn't wrap Benjamin's gifts, as he is still at the "what the heck is going on?" stage. After stockings and all of the loot were surveyed and played with, we got ready for church. Sacrament meeting was uncommonly wonderful; the music was simple but lovely (suppose I'm a bit biased there) and the talks were sublime and thought-provoking. After the special 1-hour meeting, we headed south to the Goodwin celebrations, which began with a scrumptious brunch of traditional aebleskivers and a canadian bacon strata. We opened presents and then the kids ran around playing with each other's toys all afternoon. We brought Benjamin's big gift (far left) which caused lots of jockeying for position in the tunnel and brought about screams of laughter as Dave's brother proved that he was small enough to wiggle his way through it. We finished the day with a light meal of cold cuts, rolls and other lovely treats. While it was different having Christmas land on the Sabbath, it was the perfect day to remember our Savior's birth and truly celebrate that monumental day in history that changed the world - and each of us - forever.

As 2011 closes, I sit back in retrospect. It's been a beautiful, strange & somewhat challenging year but I've never felt more blessed and looked after by a very loving Heavenly Father. I know he loves us and knows what we need. There have been moments of sweetness, times of sorrow, and feelings of discouragement, yet there have also been many times of great joy. Along the way, we've been stretched and tried as He continues to mold us into the people He knows we can become. Sometimes that molding process hurts, but hopefully we've learned something because tomorrow is another day, another year, another adventure - and we'll likely need what we've learned to take the next steps.

And with that, I bid a fond farewell to 2011 and step forward bravely into 2012 with a little bit more wisdom, a little more faith and lots of hope.