Well, Christmas has passed, it was wonderful as ever. One of my favorite
things about Christmas is decorating the house, for me that means exterior
lighting. Every year I am a mix of satisfied and dissatisfied at my efforts,
and most years involve trips to Home Depot for 50% off lights after the holiday
has passed, this year was no exception. I have big aspirations for next year!
Inevitably, I wander out during the darkness of night, to admire the
illumination cast upon our house. I remember doing it at every house we have
ever had except for the one in Georgia, because we were in Phoenix for
Christmas that year. I stand there and take in the view for a while silently,
alone, reflecting not on the work it took to do, but on how lovely it looks,
and how warm it is inside the home I gaze upon, how grateful I am for its walls
and what they contain. You pass so many homes that look lovely and inviting
from the outside, and you wonder who lives there, if their lives are a
reflection of the house they live in. Often homes, like humans, project one
thing but hide another. Our walls, be them brick or proverbial hide the secrets
of what lies behind.
I will tell you behind our walls there was warmth and love. There was at
times anger and sorrow and things all families and people deal with, but I love
our home not because of how it looks, but how it feels to be inside of it, with
all my family, living a life that is so good I couldn’t have imagined it when I
was younger. We are blessed by the Lord to have such a home and your mother and
I are blessed to have you. Now, we might have had the Lords blessing, but never
forget how hard your mother and I worked for it as well. We worked on our love,
and we worked to provide, and it has been worth every effort.
I made terrible mistakes for two of you this year and got you bikes and
Razor dirtbike/ vespas for your birthday- which left me completely out of
Christmas ideas. I have to be careful not to spoil you as it is my natural
inclination. I really want to get you everything you want, but that doesn’t
make for the best outcome in adults most of the time… Quinn you ended up with
all things Frozen related, dresses, dolls, and candy. Deacon we got you a Red
Ryder BB gun, and some Bakugan figurines you like. Cora you got a makeup kit,
and some other art and science projects. You three were excited as ever, and
Christmas is always so much fun, time with the Grandparents, and time with one
another. I really enjoy the pause at the end of the year to catch my breath
before the intensity of January with work.
For New Year’s we once again went up to the Bishops cabin in Forest Lakes
outside Payson. This year the Coberly family went with us, Cora you enjoyed
having Hanna and Wes to play with as they are closer to your age. Deacon, you,
Quinn and Cash spent most of your time together, and a lot of it was eating
icicles you continually had me fetching from the roof. We also got to do some
more serious sledding this year, and had two feet of snow to do it in. Cora you
were super brave and took on some hills I was impressed by. Deacon and Quinn,
you guys had a much better time as mom got you set up with the right gear to
keep you dry and warm. It is a huge blessing to be able to spend time with
great friends in beautiful places. Mom made a standing rib roast one night, and
we all lit of fireworks in the snow on new year’s eve, the dads smoked some
cigars I brought and it was just a great 3 days. Friends are such a blessing in
life, and enrich it so much. I hope each of you are as blessed as we have been
in our friends.
Cora, I think one of your friends got or had a rabbit, in any case you
said you wanted one, more like needed one. My challenge to you was “ok, but you
pay for it”, and you did a great job of saving your money and brought home
Marshmallow in early December. She is a very sweet and fuzzy soft rabbit. She
is also a little beggar and would most likely be 60lbs if we let her! Hungriest
bunny I have ever seen. You have been very responsible with her so far, though
you did protest quite a bit when it came to cage cleaning that prior to getting
her you assured me would be no issue. I drove darn near to Tucson to get an
outdoor cage at a good price for her, and we found a great indoor cage, and the
rabbit is getting lots of love from everyone, though you take great issue with
Quinn repeatedly calling her a “little stinker”. Cora you are fiercely
independent. You tend to go your own way regardless of what others are doing,
and you are not constantly seeking validation. You have a good sense of
confidence- which at your age can be troublesome- but overall, I am impressed
with how well you carry yourself. You also have shown zero interest in boys for
now, which I am in no way upset about. You love your guitar lessons, and
playing volleyball and tennis. You have a great group of friends at church and
school and I really feel you are growing into a lovely young lady. Lastly, you
continue to do so well in school you require very little assistance, except
occasionally in math, which was also always a struggle for me. Love you
tons.
Quinn, I feel at the tender age of three you are already a master
manipulator. You have a way of looking at people with your big blue eyes and
getting them to do your bidding. You have so many ways of holding your head and
showing approval/ disapproval its really funny. When you get your way you tend
to give me giant hugs and proclaim “you’re the best daddy, you’re a good daddy,
or thank you daddy boy”, when you don’t get your way you mostly scream and run
to your room to pout until you figure out we don’t care and then you come out
like nothing happened. You adore Deacon and love to play with him, you have a
love hate relationship with Lulu across the street- you two play so well and
then fight so hard its pretty funny to watch two third born’s battle it out. Your
favorite things right now are, Frozen, Sophia the First, and Unicorns. You eat voraciously
at every meal, which is a godsend seeing as how I still battle with Deacon
nightly to eat his food. You are our sweet and very spunky girl, very sharp and
observant, and so funny with the things you come up with. You are our
Quinnsters, and we love you deeply. Last note- you got a bad fever this week,
and someday you will know how sad and scary it is to watch your kids suffer
through illness. I got up at 3:30 to give you some meds when Cora said you were
getting really fussy. I just sat with you by your bedside, you grabbed my arm
and held it to your face and said in a quiet voice “thank you daddy”. I sat
there for the next 40 min watching you breathe and taking your temperature as
you slept, praying for you and wishing there was more I could do. Mom had
checked on you and assured me you were fine- so nice having a nurse in the
house who has seen it all with kids. I just included this note because its one
of the small things you don’t remember when you get old, but I sure do love
you, and sure do hate it when you suffer.
