I realize it’s been a while since my last post. The holidays aren’t conducive to keeping up with a blog, but I’m trying to get back in the rhythm!

It’s over now. The gifts have been unwrapped, the cookies have all been eaten, the guests have left, and quiet reigns in the house. I’m working on packing up the Christmas things, then I’ll do a thorough house cleaning.

The pictures and the memories remain.

It was a good Christmas, even a great Christmas. So many people gathered here. Both of my daughters and their husbands and children, some with significant others of their own. Only my son and his family were missing, but they live in England.

On Christmas morning, we had 17 people in our living room for a time.

They didn’t all stay for dinner since some of them had obligations to other sides of the family. Still, eleven were gathered around the dining room table.

I feel remarkably blessed that all three of my children have remained friends and get along well with each other, and their children seem to be following the same pattern.

We shared a number of thoughtful and delightful gifts, though as usual, and as it should be, the children got the lion’s share of the loot. My daughters handled a lot of the cooking and baking for the mega-breakfast and big dinner. Others pitched in to help with clean up and set up.

I’ll remember most the joy of the children at receiving some delightful gifts – things they wanted and things they didn’t know they wanted; the quiet conversations and the noisy ones; the occasional raucous laughter; some lovely church services with family; trying out the children’s new games with them and playing some old classics with the adults; and most of all the atmosphere of love and warmth that filled the house for a few days.