the only thing missing...

supplies: Overlay: Paislee Press, Viewfinder Overlays; patterned paper: Paislee Press, Philosophie Kit; heart: Paislee Press, Love + Notes; border: Paislee Press, Falling for Retro; fonts: Courier New and Helvetica

torrey is reading to herself on the floor and emma is reading "mummies in the morning" out loud to me. the tree is aglow and the house is decked out for christmas. there is wet sleety snow falling outside, the countdown is on... t minus 4 days until the big day, and the only thing that seems to be missing is stan. it's definitely not our first christmas apart, and i'm quite sure it won't be our last. it is what is, but it doesn't make me miss him any less. absence seems to bring out the million plus things i love about him, and for that i'll always be grateful for that little gift from the deployments. in the normal business of living life i don't always think of those little things. so today, amidst the calm winter evening's routine... i'm thanking God for those little things.

sunday we went to the christmas service at church. the girls were thrilled to finally wear the christmas dresses we bought months ago. we had enough time to snap a few shots before we left... and we weren't even late! stan would be so proud. there are a few more pics of the morning sweetness here.

my baby brother, jason, flew into town friday morning. the girls are eating up the uncle time like nobody's business. shopping, talking, wrestling and lots of snuggling. he even made it in time to catch torrey's choir performance for the local senior center.

my other brother, dave, and his wife will be arriving in town from japan tomorrow. we were trying to figure how many years it's been since our whole family has been home for christmas. jason and i figured it's been eight years. it's truly a blessing to have family all home for christmas this year, and it's been a welcome blessing/distraction for the girls and me.

on thursday evening we had our friend sam over. it was a sort of birthday present for him. he's the youngest of three from a family of dear friends. so for an extra special treat he came over (just him) for the evening. we made christmas crafts for the girls' classes and for sam to give to his family. we ordered pizza and set up a full picnic on the kitchen floor, and the kids all danced goofy dances they made up to christmas music. and the real present was that we got to spend a fabulous evening with one sweet little man who we are blessed to have as a friend.