I'm getting close to finishing last year's. Now I just need to catch up on this year's.

Journaling Reads: December is a whirlwind of activities - shopping, wrapping, decorating, school programs, cookie making, community events, and plain old excitement and anticipation of everyone’s favorite holiday. We decorated our tree on December 3rd with lots of help from Delaney and Danica. The next weekend we toured an area of town near our house where almost every home had beautiful outdoor decorations. One cul-de-sac had donation bins out for the food bank. The following week Delaney’s school hosted a Christmas program followed by a visit with Santa and lots of wonderful cookies. Afterwards, Mommy, Delaney, Danica, and I went to Denny’s for a late dinner. The weekend before Christmas Andrea, Nona, Zach, Erek, Delaney, Danica, and I immersed ourselves in the Peter Pan theatrical performance at the El Dorado Showroom. It was a fabulous show. I made sure the fun continued to the house by purchasing Tinker Bell wings and pirate swords. That evening we dove into present openings as we shared an early Christmas with Steven, Nona, and Erek. Papa recorded Hallmark holiday books for the five youngest grandchildren, and Erek, Delaney, and Danica opened theirs during our celebration. The next day Delaney and Danica decorated Christmas sugar cookies with mounds of frosting and a variety of candies. This annual event at Brandon and Ryan’s is truly a sugar overload. Christmas Eve all the Sullivans joined us for our traditional prime rib and turkey dinner, followed by some heavy duty Wii dancing competitions. Later we opened our traditional gifts of Christmas Eve pajamas and I took the annual photo. Christmas Day Papa, Ariana, Zachary, and I opened our presents before going to the Sullivans to exchange gifts with them. Zach was shocked and over-the-top excited when Santa brought him an iPhone 4S. I think we may have created a monster! Meanwhile in Sacramento Erek lounged in his Christmas Eve PJs and read his letter from Santa. Christmas afternoon Papa, Zach, and I packed for our departure the next day to South Africa to meet the Harmons for a ten-day vacation. While we were gone, Danica had another visit to Stanford for some painful tests to explore her bladder functioning. She was a trooper! Meanwhile, in Ghana the Harmons had a wonderful, mostly traditional Christmas in a tropical climate. They, too, spent time packing for their departure to South Africa two days after Christmas. We spent our last few days of December visiting the Shangana Cultural Center, the Endangered Species Center, and three days at the Kapama Game Reserve in a luxurious hotel with two camera safaris each day. This was truly an incredible December, one we’ll never forget.

Shabby Princess: template, Sugar Plum Dreams, Twas the Night, Believe, Seasonal Sampler-Holiday, and Olivia; Gina Cabrera Postage Stamp Frames; Fonts-Century Gothic and You Are Loved.