If you can read this, give thanks.

So excited to be on Santa's lap...until....

We discovered he gave us a SMALL, RED candy cane (we wanted a BIG, GREEN one!) Notice how long we tried to convince Carter to smile again...Logan's phony smile is wearing off...

Well, I managed to let an entire month go by without updating the ol' blog. I think I have pretty good excuses, but I guess I'll let you readers be the judge of that.

The boys and I flew out of Anchorage in the wee hours of Nov. 3rd for almost 3 weeks in the midwest. We rented a car and put over 1500 miles on it, visiting lots of people in Minnesota and North Dakota. It still seemed to be not nearly enough time. It definitely was NOT restful for me. I spent most nights staying up until 2:00 in the morning, visiting with people I hadn't seen in 10 years...and I wouldn't trade that for any amount of sleep! I hope it's not another 10 years before I see them again.

The boys traveled well. I purposely scheduled our flights with a layover in Seattle because there's a great play area for kids there. In fact, on our way back, our layover was such that we stayed in a hotel. We had the pool to ourselves and "Happy Feet" was playing when we got back to the room. Good times.

Eating chicken fingers on the bed with a movie...it doesn't get much better!



WEARY TRAVELERS

On top of seeing EVERYONE, I got to show the boys were my brother was buried. It took a little explaining for them to understand that Chad was buried in the ground, not the stone itself! Once they got that concept under control, my emotional first-born began to cry because he never got to meet Chad. Ah, blessings DO come in small packages...

We got back to Alaska just a few days before Thanksgiving. I was scheduled to work the 3 days before the holiday, but there were a few glitches so I only worked a few hours on Wednesday before we all went home for the day. Today was my first day back at the hospital since the shooting last week. And although there's no physical damage present anymore, there's a sadness still. Just walking through the halls brought up a lot of emotion all over again...both for the lives lost and also for the rest of us that continue to live on. As I was heading out the door, our CEO stopped me in the hallway and gave a hug. Funny how something like this makes us see our administrators as human beings rather than our bosses.

I have a course in Anchorage tomorrow, so tonight I sit alone in a bed & breakfast with nothing but time to reflect on all of the blessings in my life. Of course, there are the obvious things like family and friends, but I especially think about the little things that are so easy to forget:

1. How my kids continue to need me...even when I'm tired of being needed.

2. The amazing ability my children and husband have to tell me they love me...when I deserve it the least.

3. The three compliments I got on my haircut when I thought I was having the worst hair day in months.

4. Baby wipes...the multi purpose tool.

5. Wireless internet connection while away from home

6. the fact that my sewing machine could be fixed!!

7. clearance racks ( I LOOOVE a bargain!)

8. Hershey's Bliss (raspberry flavor)

So if you find yourself reading this, walk away from the computer and go squeeze someone you love...we never know how much time we have with them.