Merry Christmas to All...

We have had a very busy few days. On Saturday we attended my mom's family Christmas. There were approximately 40 people there and I figured that that is only just over half of us. My mom is one of 11 children so it doesn't take that many of us to fill a house. Needless to say there was tons of food, lots of laughter and 'Santa' even made an appearance. Calla and Maya had a blast playing with their cousins and of course receiving gifts from the big guy in red.

The next day was the family brunch and then we had some friends for dinner. We are so grateful to have so many loving and supportive people in our lives. Our friends showed up with gifts for the girls, flowers for me and the most touching gift was balloons to be released in honor of our sweet Georgia. This meant bundling up after supper in our toques, mitts and boots but it was so touching to see the little ones let go of their balloons and wish Georgie a Merry Christmas. The even chased them into the backyard where we all watched them as they slowly disappeared.

The last few days have been filled with a play, a movie, playing in all of the new snow and of course finishing up all of the Christmas stuff. It has been much harder to get into the spirit this year but Calla and Maya's excitement is quite infectious.

We had thought that we wouldn't hang Georgia's stocking this year. What were we going to put into it anyway? Well, this year there will be a picture of a little girl who is two years old. The other day as Mike and I walked through the mall to a movie he was drawn by the World Vision booth. I actually had decided that we were going to separate for a few minutes so I kept on walking. My very thoughtful and generous husband eventually called me back over and asked me if we could sponsor a child this year and place her picture in Georgie's stocking. I immediately scanned the pictures of children in front of me and picked up an image of a little girl named Gloria. Her eyes, while not blue, are huge and expressive and she has that round face and chubby cheeks that remind me of all 3 of my babies. "This is the one". I said.

The girl working at the booth was so excited. She told me that so many people had picked up Gloria's picture but they always ended up putting it down. She couldn't understand why the little girl had been waiting so long for a sponsor. I just smiled. I have no doubt that we were meant to sponsor her. So this year in honor of the child we lost we will help to keep another alive. Given the circumstances this is one of the best gifts that I could be given.

We hope that tonight you find yourself surrounded by people that you love and love you in return. For those of you mourning a loss we hope that you find comfort in memories and that feeling that only comes with Christmas, some would call magic.

Merry Christmas!

Love to you all,

Kristen