Tom’s father passed in January.

We made it to Michigan in time to say goodbye, and for Harper to give his grandpa a kiss. We were able to stay for the funeral.

I couldn’t help but think of the last memories we had with him. The last time in Michigan, Tom and his dad got to go fishing. They sat on the pier at Millennium Park, catching too small fish in the pond below.

The last time his dad visited us, we narrowly missed his flight out of Myrtle Beach. We could get him a later flight, but we stayed in Myrtle Beach while we waited. His dad was like a kid at Disneyland. We went to lunch; he ate nothing but ran around playing arcade games for an hour. We went to Broadway on the Beach and he got caramel popcorn and spent half an hour telling Tom what candy he wanted in “ItSugar.” Though he was using a walker, he had the spirit of a teenager.

It’s nice to have wonderful memories of those we lose.

For New Year’s, we traveled to Charlotte to visit Erin. Erin has come to Wilmington so many times we can’t even count! We exchanged Christmas presents (you can see the adorable elephant sweater vest Harper got and the Giant Microbe – a brain cell – that Erin got from some crazy lady).

We played dominoes, watched Toy Story 3 (the most depressing of the trilogy), toasted champagne at midnight, walked around some shops and watched Harper play on the playground.

What a nice way to bring in the new year.

Today was a snow day in Wilmington. And a pretty impressive one at that. The snow cover has hidden almost all the grass (and I’m not being ironic here) and was sizable enough to build a snowman (albeit small). I got the day off work (we have no plows or salt, the natives don’t know how to drive in this, and all the schools were closed) so I took pictures of Tom and Harper in the snow. You can see how happy Tom is to play in the snow – even his eyes are sparkling!

Ah, wisdom teeth. I got mine taken out between Christmas and New Years. What a great way to spend a Christmas vacation…

However, I was rather thankful that all four of my wisdom teeth had erupted already, so it was just removing four teeth, not digging them out. I didn’t have to worry about nerves and sinuses being damaged and the probability of dry socket decreased significantly.

The actual extraction took less than 38 minutes (I was paying my co-pay at 12:26 and in the car at 1:04). The sedation wore off really quickly – I’ve heard others talk about being out of it all day long, and I was back to myself (I was going to say completely normal, but that would be misleading) by the time we got home. Granted, we had to pick up Harper and get my prescriptions, so that was about an hour.

Other than this picture right here, where I still have gauze in my mouth (this was taken right when we got home, so about an hour after surgery), I didn’t have any post-op swelling, or “chipmunk cheeks.” My pain and discomfort was easily manageable, and I didn’t get the dreaded dry socket.

I still feel the holes in my mouth and I’m not real sure if they ever fully close, but I feel just fine. All in all, it was considerably better than I had thought it would be. But still, not my favorite way to spend vacation.

Tom, Harper and I celebrated Christmas at home this year.

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated the true spirit of the season at Pine Valley UMC in the afternoon, after which I started Christmas dinner preparations. That was followed by more rejoicing at St Mark’s Catholic church, with a beautiful mass. Once at home, we got into our new flannel Christmas Eve jammies and read A Night Before Christmas with Harper. Tom and I cuddled and watched all the Doctor Who Christmas specials to date and then snuggled into bed.

The next morning, we gathered presents and stockings by the tree (no mantle place). Christmas morning was full of lovely surprises, a wonderful breakfast, watching Harper open presents, lazing around, Christmas Dinner, naps, cleaning up, Christmas movies, and phone calls with families.

All in all, we’re setting up some great Christmas traditions for our little family.

I made my first full Christmas Dinner this year for Tom, Harper and I. I made garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Swiss cheese green beans, stuffing, and a roast chicken (a 5-8 pound chicken made more sense for our family). I also made cranberry sauce, but whoever said you could do it in the Crockpot overnight was full of lies. But, the burned cranberry sauce was the only mistake in otherwise a delicious meal (I have this on a reliable source).

I looked for some recipes that were similar to old family recipes I had in a cookbook that I forget to get back before the holidays. Others, I tried brand new – a cornbread sausage stuffing with apples and bacon, and a tasty quiche and roasted potatoes for breakfast.

I have to thank the good cooks in my life, and those who passed down deliciousness like never before!!

We spent the weekend visiting Mom and family at their new home at Otter Springs, a county park in Florida, as a sort of Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration. We stayed in the park’s cabins (which were wonderful, with a full kitchen, beds for all of us, and plenty of room).Though we had a short time together, we managed tons of fun:

• Corralling a cow off the road
• Mini donuts at the flea market
• Party at the Rec Center
• Geckos on the windowsill
• Christmas open house in Trenton
• Boys versus girls at Guesstures
• Magician at Fenning State Park Fair
• Awesome new clock (among other wonderful Christmas gifts)
• Stroganoff
• Pig tagging and worming