Merry Christmas, part duex

Other wonderful December happenings include that Brian & I kept our annual tradition of visiting Botanica's Illuminations:


I sang in The Eagle's choir at the holiday open house with, from left, Annie, Suzanne, Rod and Molly. (Photo courtesy of Travis.)

And I took a vacation day to hang out with Mom. We each picked out new glasses at our optometrist's office (she chose adorable new frames and I purchased my first pair of prescription sunglasses). We checked out some local boutiques we've never been to, Christmas shopped for our hubbies, made a visit to our favorite fabric store, chatted over lunch and topped it all off with a peppermint mocha and gingerbread latte from Starbucks.


Having Mom well and happy this Christmas has no doubt been one of the greatest gifts of the season. She and Dad attended a Christmas Eve service at Aldersgate with Brian and me. Afterwards, one of the pastors who had visited Mom in the hospital several times this summer told Mom that she got a little choked up seeing her sitting among the congregation. "It's so wonderful to have you with us this Christmas," she said. Mom and I both cried. God bless us everyone.