Winter Magic

Christmas came and went too fast! We had such a great time! The holidays are even more magical with kids. Instead of just stressing on schedules, gifts, obligations and money, I’m able to enjoy the real magic of Christmas again. The lights. The baking. The tree. The books. It’s so much fun to count the days with the kids. Since the kids are getting older, this year I was even more determined to make Christmas about more than presents. I think it went pretty well! 

Here are some of the fun ways we enjoyed the magic of Christmas ... 

Decorations! Here we are decorating our odd-yet-perfect shaped tree! 

Baking is my favorite part of the season. The kids loved cookie decorating ... and tasting ...

Mail is another favorite of mine. The kids enjoyed making Christmas cards for their special friends.

We've heard that making snowmen is another part of the season ... We had to improvise since it doesn't snow in AZ!

 Christmas lights are magical and such a beautiful site ... especially by boat!

A first for me ... Gingerbread house decorating! ... and tasting ...

 Special outings are a must over Winter Break! We had a great time at the zoo!

Another "holiday must" that is tricky in AZ ... But we made do! Snow angels in  the desert ...

And of course the most exciting tradition of them all ... Cookies for Santa and reindeer food!

... and Santa likes beer here. :)

And before we knew it, the BIG day came! What a special day we had. Santa treated the kids to some big surprises! And he even took notice that they needed some new socks and undies too! What a smart guy.

We are a lucky bunch. The holidays were a blur of fun and special time with family and friends. We even got visits from the grandparents! The kids were thrilled to spend time with them and to share in their emerging holiday traditions.

And before we knew it, 2016 had arrived! We started the New Year getting Ryan set up at our local Children’s Hospital. We love our doctors in CA but we have decided that we need to have our team near by. Before we were a week into 2016 we met Ryan’s new Genetic Team. And what a great team they are! The doctor spent over an hour with us and he’s eager to assist us with achondroplasia issues and also his hypoglycemia. He assisted in getting us lined up with the other specialists Ryan needs to see: ENT, Pulmonary, Audiology and Orthopedics.

This is going to be a busy year. But for us, it works best to be proactive and to manage the complications that Ryan currently has and also to be in touch for those that may surface. It's a lot for us - and especially hard on Ryan at times. Our little man sure is tough. As usual we couldn't be more proud. 

On to the next adventure …