18 days until Christmas. Officially less than 3 weeks! We made our Christmas counters Saturday. Now we just have to remember to mark each day off. My friend Anna came over the other day to make cookies with us. She was telling me about how she grew up and how Christmas was for her family. It made me really glad that there are some things my kids will grow up knowing as family traditions, like making Christmas counters, believing in Santa (for a while), and waffles every Christmas morning.
This year is Donovan's first Christmas. I'm so happy. I know he's young, but it's still exciting. I really love that kid.
The past few years have been really nice. Since everything that's gone on with Nathan's parents, we don't really have to make allowances for them when spending our "family" time during the holidays. It's honestly been a lot more fun. Too, it's been really nice to see Nathan being able to spend more time with his brothers. He really missed them when all of that drama was going on, but he wanted to give them space so that he wouldn't be accused of trying to influence their decisions about things. Now when their schedules match they can actually sit back and talk to each other. Our kids can know their kids and it's just good all the way around. I just wish Heather could benefit from it all somehow. Poor Ravi still misses her Grandma a lot and wishes to see her. Cas has just become indifferent. She's even said that her Grandma makes her uncomfortable and She doesn't really know what to do when She comes around. Ravi is getting to that point the more she sees that her Grandma doesn't call or visit, or even write.

Today when I opened the door there was snow on the ground. It was a nice surprise. I'm a big fan of seasons. For a while it felt like March, not December. Getting cold and sniffy and drinking hot tea or cocoa just adds to the Christmas mood. It's so great.