Happy Christmas

I love Christmas - and always look forward to it with an uncomfortable - and probably inappropriate - amount of anticipation. It is always such a necessary and joyful reward for making it through a grueling season of papers and exams. I'm slightly obsessed with the music, the crafts, the food.....Last year I waited for winter break with bated breath, but our holiday season was filled with a little more drama, fear, and excitement than any of us would have hoped for. We had planned to spend December 25th together as a family, but due to circumstances far beyond our control, most of us spent the actual holiday travelling between D.C. and the Cleveland Clinic, and - Charity spent it teetering somewhere between life and death. When I reflect on last Christmas - and all that has transpired since then - I'm filled with dumbfounding gratitude and awe. The last year was both tremendously challenging and tremendously generous - bringing with it new lungs for Charity, a new husband for Liberty, and a new baby for Kimber (just to name a few of the highlights)....As a fitting finish to 2012, almost everyone was home in Colorado for Christmas, which is something that hasn't happened since I don't even know when! And, while I didn't think it was possible, Christmas at home was maybe even more wonderful than I expected.