For once, I ended up with a lot of really great Christmas pictures, but thanks to slow internet connection up here on the mountain, it would take me all day just to add a few, so I think I'll wait until we go home to post pictures of our time here. Christmas with the Dempsen side of the family is always an adventure full of laughter, games, relaxation, and food... We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family who loves us and loves (read: spoils) our baby girl! Jesse's parents live up on Mt. Spokane, which really is more of a large hill compared to the mountains I'm used to near Seattle. They have a beautiful piece of property in the woods and I love tramping around in the woods. With Sweet Miss, it's kind of hard to get out in the cold, although I am seriously considering bundling her up later this afternoon and sticking her in her wrap for a little tiny hike. There are a few inches of snow on the ground and trees, and the sun shining through the branches takes my breath away. The difference between seasons here is striking and it's hard during these visits to recall visiting in summer and sitting out on the porch with my coffee each morning while watching hummingbirds flash between trees and feeders above my head. These wintry trips bring back memories from when were just engaged of snowball fights and sledding, snow angels and falling down in pillows of snow, reminiscent of idyllic Christmas activities found in songs and stories.
I love spending time with Jesse's sister Holly; it's such a treat to spend time with her. Her quiet presence is full of love and compassion, and watching her with Adelaide fills me with joy. This is the first Christmas in both of our families with a baby, and it is thrilling to imagine the busy-ness and child-focused fun that is to come with more and more children in each family. Christmas is so fun with kids and the past few years I have longed to start that phase of our lives. Now here we are and I am loving it! It has been so fun to watch each of our siblings fall in love with Lyddie as they hold her, she brings out a gentle side even in our rough and tumble, sarcastic, and manly teenage brothers. I love seeing the genuine smiles for pictures from junior high boys (soon to be shared in another post) which are hard to come by these days.
What a beautiful Christmas this has been. As I get older, I realize more and more the significance of what we are celebrating, and am so thankful above all for the incarnation of the Christ, a scandal of epic proportions. He has blessed us far beyond all we could ask or imagine.
Merry Christmas to all!
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