However you celebrate the many holidays of this winter season, I hope you take time to enjoy it with family and friends who are most important to you. It is my wish that your season be stress-free and you can spend all the time you wish with loved ones.

This will be my last post in 2011. My eldest is home from college and enjoying time with his younger brother. I want to spend time with them as well. Both are teens but the Legos are back out in the basement for the many games that have occupied their creative minds for years. We’ve already had some wonderful conversations about nearly any topic imaginable and I know there is more to come.

We’ve just finished decorating our tree which means it’s time for a spirited game of “I Spy” with the ornaments. The clues are getting more and more inventive each year as we hide our favorites when decorating only to reveal their location during the game.

This week, we’ll also be baking cookies together, just as I did when I was a child, using the recipes my grandmother passed down. It’s time for gingerbread, “children’s cookies” (sugar) and cherry cookies.

Then there is the annual tour of Anchorage to see the holiday light displays. When the boys were little, they dressed in PJs and were asleep by the time we returned home.

Thank you for all you have done this year to help me build this community. I will be back just after the first of the year. In the meantime, please spend time with those you care about.

If you want to share your plans and memories here I would love to know what’s important to you this season.

Once again, I wish you the most wonderful holiday season ever with those you love.

2001 Family Christmas Picture