Happy Holidays!

December has been a busy month for us, so I apologize for the lack of blog activity.  When I say busy, it is probably not what most families would envision for this month.  My husband was working out of the country for 3 weeks along with many of my friends' husbands, so it meant a little extra effort with the kids, plus making some extra meals to deliver to families struggling to make it through the month (some with newborn babies).  I also volunteered to make cookies for the school kids to decorate, more for kids in a Japanese orphanage, and more cookies and food for our "Unit's" holiday party.  Besides the holiday party, we also got to participate in a base "Jinglebell jog" and see Santa...

Here are some photos from the Jinglebell jog...

Many Santas, several units and hundreds of dependents head towards the start

Luckily my husband returned before Christmas.  Though with uncertain return dates, no family within thousands of miles, and very little opportunity for communication while he was gone, we had a hard time figuring out holiday plans.  We did try to take some time off and "space-A" somewhere fun, but that didn't work out.  So, we're enjoying some local relaxation.

Of course for Christmas eve I got to make more cookies for Santa.  One of my cousins sent some wonderful sea-life cookie cutters, so here's what we left for Santa...

The next AM our son was thrilled to get his Legos and daughter her first bike they asked for from Santa.











Of course I also had fun putting up Christmas lights on the front and back of our house.  Here is what I did to the kids' fort...

So, though we are far away from family, we have tried to make the most of our holiday season.  For the kids, as long as there's a tree and lights and Santa doesn't forget them, they're pretty happy.  We feel so grateful we are able to provide them that, as we know many families in the world can not.  Every year we also donate to "Toys for Tots" a military program that brings toys to some of these children in need.

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and have an excellent New Year!