Merry Christmas

Today we celebrated one of the highlights of our spiritual lives, it was Jesus' birthday! A day to give gifts on the day that we received the greatest gift of all, a day to celebrate family and friends on the day that makes possible true family and true connections between people, a day to remember our hope, a day to tell the stories that we live by to our children, a day when we celebrate what makes possible true peace on earth and goodwill towards men.

I love the smiles and the joy that go with this day.
I love watching my daughters and the contentment on their faces that comes from knowing how much they are loved, and then their excitement to spread that love they feel to those around them. Three beautiful, unselfish hearts that constantly challenge me to be the same.

The highlight of our Christmas this year was getting to participate in a feast for the homeless at the Warming Center. We live in a world marked by hardship and pain and I don't want to forget that in the midst of the joy that fills our home at this time of year. My desire is to spread that joy, to welcome people into the circle of our laughter who don't have someone to laugh with, to find moments of peace in the midst of it all, and to know and share our hope on this day of all days as we celebrate the reason for our hope. We felt blessed by the presence of so many friends sharing in the joy of our Christmas and we felt blessed to be able to give and to receive in this way. It was a beautiful place to be on Christmas day.

Graham Cracker Houses!

Nothing compares to classic wintertime fun.

Short days, cold and snow outside, warmth, laughter and fun inside.

Making Graham Cracker houses was a first for our girls this year. I'm not brave enough to try real gingerbread houses, we'll save that endeavour for next year. Maybe we'll make gingerbread cookies today, that's a little less intimidating. (It's a snow day here! Even Mitch gets to stay at home today! Foot and a half of snow on the ground and still falling, the girls think it looks like heaven outside.)

Thanks to my sister's advice, we made our frosting thick and it held even the roof up well, although Josie's snow covered roof wasn't built to code for that kind of load, according to Mitch, and needed some buttresses to hold it together until the frosting dried.Mitch: "You've got some good glue there, Josie!"

Josie: "It's frosting, Dad!!!"

Precision and accuracy, precision and accuracy.

The world is a very literal place to a 4 year old:)

Unique creativity at work:

Ruthie enjoyed just piling more candy on:


THE FINISHED PRODUCTS



Josie's- symmetrical and even (I love the name always written from right to left these days):

Anna's- Flamboyant and expansive, complete with an enclosed backyard and an ice skating rink on the side:

Ruthie's: definitely 3, "Mom, stop helping me! If you want to do some then you can make your own!"

I hope you all are finding ways to make this Christmas season special in your own homes. We are tucking in and enjoying how the cold outside brings us together inside.

Snapshots of our California Christmas

Nothing can every fully encapsulate a time in our lives, there is no way I can share with you completely about our time in California over Christmas. But I wanted to share with you a glimpse into our fun times, memories and bonds we made that will last a lifetime.

Our little family was in need of some times of connection and rest, time to remember what we care about, who we care about, time to feel alive and around family we love again.

Our time staying at my sister's house was definitely full of all of those things.

What can be more relaxing than spending time in a hot tub? Spending time with 5 little kids in a hot tub! Here's Mitch with all 5 cousins:

I can't even count for you how many good meals we ate, gourmet meals Uncle Trace cooked and we enjoyed. Family and friends gathered around a full table, good conversation, lots of laughter, eating to our hearts content. The center of life.

We went on many hikes with all 5 cousins and Grandma Jo on the trails in the woods around my sister's house, following Jack-the-fearless-leader: lots of identifying trees, stomping down the frost heave icicles, playing in the mud, counting rings on tree stumps to see how old they were, listening to the birds, being outdoors in my native Sierra Nevada mountains, the essence of peace for me.

4 of the cousins eating their snack on a log, a break in our hike:
(l-r:Caroline, Jack, Anna, Josie)


Reading books with Uncle Trace: Josie reading with her Papa, my Dad.

Jack and Anna enjoy a game of Candyland:

Downtime activities. Let your hair down, make yourself at home, be yourself.

Three sisters and our Mama! Together at last!

Life is made up of a series of so many special moments.

We even took a day and went to the beach! Our girls had never seen the ocean (well, Anna had but she was only 6 months old the last time). Here we all are out on the Marin Headlands, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the background:

Yes, it was a chilly, January day. Don't let the next pictures deceive you.

My beautiful sister Becky and my beautiful niece, Caroline:

Daddy'O, Anna and Josie, dipping their toes in the ocean water for the first time:

I love when my girls have such special times with their Daddy.

Run! The waves are coming!

Remember that picture of us all in wool sweaters and hats? Now look at Anna and Jack and Caroline! Anyone else for a dip in the ocean in January? We were on a beach at Point Reyes National Seashore just north of San Fransisco. Yes, there were other people there, but we couldn't figure out why none of them were in the water, too.

Little Ruthie played in the sand to her heart's content:

And got all covered with it! Look at that smile!

This is one of my favorite beach pictures, it says so much about who each person is. Jack, leaping into the cold waves laughing and exhilarated, all boy. Anna and Caroline, a bit more timid, holding Mitch's hands, yet out there in the water playing the whole afternoon, running, jumping, dunking under the water and screaming with delight:

I loved getting to know Jack and Caroline (my nephew and niece) better, getting to spend so much time with them and watching them play with Anna and Josie and Ruthie. Two kindhearted souls who love life, love the people they are surrounded by and seem so mature and self-confident for their age.

Another highlight of our trip was taking the girls on a little hike up Sugarloaf Mt in Nevada City to show them where Mitch and I got engaged.

Fun to share with them a little piece of our history, a little spot on this earth that is dear to our hearts. Not that you can see it in this picture, but we had a view out over the Sacramento Valley all the way to the coastal mountain range despite the overcast skies and the rain that was beginning to fall as we hiked down.

And the Beltrans!

What trip home would be complete without getting to see my dear friend Lupe and her family?

(l-r: Ben, Lupe, Andrea & Ben -we didn't get to see Carolina)

The girls had a lot of fun playing with every member of the Beltran family, and Mitch and I always love hanging out with our good friends.

Here we are, the Clement clan after we returned home:

(picture take by Grandma Judy Clement)

Thank you, Holly and Trace, for hosting us and giving us such a wonderful space in your home to relax and enjoy the company of all the people around us. Thank you for making us feel at home in your home.

It was a time that truly exemplified the essence of what Christmas is all about to me: giving, sharing, loving, accepting... God among us.

I hope each of you were able to experience a piece of the same this Christmas season.

The Projects

For Christmas presents this year I made "art-on-the-go" bags: Drawstring backpacks that contained a sketch pad and a felt pencil role.
I got the idea and the pattern for the felt pencil roles from Amanda Blake Soule's book "The Creative Family". I made 6 of these, all a bit different, one each for Anna and Josie and their 4 older cousins. Sorry Maia Sage and Ruthie, I didn't think you two were old enough yet.

So for those of you who were curious, now you know what all of my sewing was leading up to Christmas.

The sketch books for Anna and Josie, by the way, have cover art drawn by Mitch, he is the artist of the family, not me. Anna and Josie themselves did the front and back cover art for their cousins' books. Yes, they watched the making of the bags and participated in much of it, not knowing that any of it was for themselves. I love the innocence of childhood and their joy in making and giving gifts to their cousins without a thought for themselves.

I hope you all enjoy using your art bags as much as we loved making them for you, Jack and Caroline, Maryn and Landry! We love you!