Farewell 2016

The closing weeks of 2016 were well spent with family and friends. But doing that required a bit more travelling than we are used to. Isaac, Cookie and I spent a little over 19 hours on the road during our trip. In some ways this was our first "grown-up" holiday - being on the road, leaving the place we call home to visit others - and it was wearing on all three of us.

Our poor little Cookie suffered the most discomfort on the long car rides. Regardless of your experience with bunny body language, I think it's pretty clear that this is not the pose of a happy, relaxed rabbit.

Perhaps it's another part of the grown-up holiday experience - regret. Despite sharing time with loved ones, the constant feeling of not-enough clung to my back. Not enough time, not enough said and definitely not enough pictures taken! Being concerned with planning and preparing for the rest of our trip (and worrying about Cookie) prevented me at times from being truly present. And I wish I had been able to more fully express things to others like joy and love and amazement.

But maybe it's the perfectionist in me kneading over the normal again and again, wanting it to become better. Because looking back through through the few pictures I have reminds me that there were many such moments of savoring the present.

Singing Christmas hymns and snickering our way through the sermon with an almost nine-month-old.

































Sharing life, memories and some amazing chocolate mint schnapps.


































A hilarious taste-testing game of yummy and gross jellybeans that look just alike.

My nephew playing in the same baby cabinet we used to as kids. Meeting up for a fiery tradition with a few new guests.

Seeing the two most important men to me work side by side.

Eating this "salad" while catching up with cousins.

Playing house and games with friends, and being part of an impressively bookish group - as many as six of us curled around the fireplace with e-readers.

Taking in a beauty profoundly different and greater than even our precious time together.

Christmas vacation was full of dining tables - steaming with warm food and shimmering with special dinnerware. Something about this time of year slows us down, letting us enjoy long and languid stretches of minutes around the table together. Food is only one course among the many topics of conversation being served. Life's normal tasks are shoved to the back corners of your mind, silenced, and you're able to just lean back in your chair and listen.

Even the perfectionist in me cannot think of any way to improve those moments squished around dinner tables.

And so after writing, and thus reflecting, I realize that this was a wonderful holiday and end to the year. 2016 was the toughest year I've lived thus far, but it was also one of the most precious. Saturated with new experiences, obstacles and personal growth. I'm thankful that Isaac and I were able to wish it farewell alongside so many loved ones.