Merry & Bright

Several of our family members gathered last night for pizza and a great holiday concert. It's events like this that really make us feel that the holidays are upon us. I usually can summarize my mood as "Merry & Bright." Visiting with family was great, and the concert was awesome. To top it off, I just have to glance at my son and I'm feeling "Merry and Bright" for sure. Now, if I'm completely honest, and think about others beside myself and my family, I must acknowledge that this year things feel different . The holidays seem to be bringing with them this year an extra dose of tough times for lots of people.

This past week the staff at my school canceled our holiday party, and we will instead donate the funds to the Holland City Mission because we have more than a couple students living there. Although it shouldn't be this way, buying gifts through programs like Angel Tree feel really different when you think your gift might be going to a student you know.

If you watched the news last night, you probably heard about the murder-suicide in Holland, right next to my school. The teenager connected to that crime, fighting for her life at DeVos Children's Hospital, was in my class all year last year. These are the kind of stories that always feel really far away, but this one hits close to home.

This year you don't have to look too far to find someone that isn't feeling "Merry & Bright." We all know someone. I could easily write a long list here, and you probably could too.

Say a prayer. Buy a gift. Send a card. Donate money. Sing carols. Shovel snow. Do something for someone. Please.

Everyone deserves a chance to feel "Merry & Bright" this holiday season. You never know, you just might be their way there.

6 Months Pictures

Brighton's 6 month pictures are up for viewing HERE at Walcott Imaging. Click on 6 month slide show if you're interested in taking a peek.

Our Trees

There has been lots of talk lately about a fake versus a real Christmas tree. I must weigh in because we are undoubtedly weird when it comes to this subject. Jon and I have never had a real living tree, but we have a real dead tree. We cover this in just about all of the ornaments we own - the ones we receive as gifts, the ones we buy on vacation, our picture ornaments, and even the ugly ones we made as young children. It's a blast to look at these each year. As promised, here is our "dead" tree:

I fully realize that you probably think our "dead" tree is crazy, but we have come to really love it. Below is our Christmas tree addition this year, and it probably has more mass appeal. We picked up a pre-lit fake tree at VanWieren Hardware last year after the holidays. We were super exited to put it up, and realized that we really underestimated the value of twinkling lights. Even though we don't have a real tree, we feel like we do now because at least it looks like it is living.

Happy Holidays! Now, if we could only get the lights up outside...

Walcott on Wheels

The UPS man delivered this walker for Brighton this afternoon. It has only been here a few hours, and he is already flying across the kitchen floor. Thankfully the UPS man delivered our gate too.