New Beginnings

Happy New Year!

 Year 2010 is behind us now.  I would have to say that the year was all about family.  As this drawing depicts the ties between family members are special and unique to each pairing. 

 
For us it is always about family, but 2010 was unique because of.....

• A true family vacation to Yellowstone.
• Rescuing family photos, but only thanks to other family members who respected my genealogical addiction enough to wade through over 37 large bags of garbage to find photos over 100 years old. 
• Spending Father's Day with my father-in-law
• Celebrating my mom's birthday with her for the first time in many years
• Christmas with more than just one other family member.

Family.

Now is a time for new beginnings.  Yes, this year's resolutions are the same as last year's.  But at least I am starting out the year with a clean house, less clutter, a new roof, and the laundry all caught up.  And while we didn't get snow this holiday (the drawing above is about as close as we came....the snow having arrived just after we left the biggest little city in the world) and the birdbath is currently a solid block of ice, we have something some of you might not have.

 Yes, my primroses are starting to bloom.  The hope of spring.  And a reminder that it is time to weed as soon as the weather cooperates (it is kind of hard to pull roots out of frozen soil).

More than anything I want to wish all of you good health.  Because if the last year taught me nothing else, it is that good health allows you to make the most of all the other wonderful gifts that surround us.  And there are so many wonderful gifts if we but open our eyes.  So take a moment and look in the eyes of a family member at the first opportunity.  See only the good, only the gift, only the beauty, and realize that Christmas comes 24/7/365.  We are gifts for one another which means we have to give and receive.