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amazing sunset |
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beautiful nieces |
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cozy Italian dinner |
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arriving at the Ronald McDonald House |
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cute cousins Meghan, Emma, Elsie and Kristen |
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cute cousins doing the jig |
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Auntie Carol walked back in the rain |
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side garden at RMH |
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main living room |
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one of the many beautiful pieces of artwork |
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great window seat view of the CN tower... all lit up for Christmas |
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every room has a chalk board in the hall |
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pretty candy coloured sunrise this morning |
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winter wonderland |
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it was a nice quiet little morning... |
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with each year i am finding that we are a bit slower to make it to the tree... |
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i find myself purposely stalling... trying to savour every christmas moment. |
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i know that someday i will be wishing to turn back time to when they were small and Christmas morning was one squeal after another. |
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of course we still managed a few of those again this year. |
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Poppy gave the girls each an ipad... everyone managed to hold back tears... hmmm, except Poppy i think. |
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yummy turkey dinner... and a fresh snowfall. |
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another lovely christmas |
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here's our big snowfall that happened overnight. right now i will take whatever i can get.... and if it means i have to get down really low and zoom in for a close up look, then that's what i do. |
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...because from a distance you'd hardly appreciate it. snow is coming, no doubt in my mind. |
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today was my last chance to wrap. see the two "even steven" piles? two girls...that's what you have to do. |
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i'm hoping that tonight a little baking will get done. i'm imagining candles and twinkle lights, music and chocolate. coconut too. (all my favourites have it) |
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this time tomorrow... the house will be cleaner than today, the fridge will be full, gifts will be ready to give. my heart will be full of the magic... Merry Christmas with Love...Leanne xox |
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don't get all excited. these are old photos. that baby tree is now about three times the size it was two winters ago. this trio of deer used to come by every morning for the apples i would give them. i don't do that anymore... because they also came to eat my cedars. then i got ticked off. anyway...the reason for my post... we haven't any snow. it's going to be a green christmas and i just have to get used to the idea. the only other time that this happened was when the girls were young. i went to bed christmas eve and begged santa and his elves to PLEASE bring us a white christmas. sure enough...a beautiful blanket of white had been laid down and my faith in santa was once again renewed. |
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now would be a good time to remember the good things about a green christmas. no snow to shovel. no snow to walk in. no snow to drive in. |
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but then again... no snow means no snow fun. |
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...and no snowy landscapes or no snowy photos. (insert sad face) xox |
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where did all that white stuff go? |
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been fine with me... this weather is great for bird watching. |
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i know i'm cute. |
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bird. |
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all it took was a couple full days of rain and above zero temps. gone. all of it. green grass in my yard. today was miserable. sideways rain that rattled the windows. yucky. not exactly the kind of day that makes you want to Christmas shop... or bake or wrap. it just made me want to do laundry and wear my jammies all day. and wait. |
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luckily there is a smidgen in the forecast... a wee sprinkling... hopefully just enough to whiten and brighten... add that sparkling touch to everything as far as the eye can see. i have never had a "green" Christmas. it would just be weird. xox |
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...a long day, but a good day. it was a very successful surgery. they believe they got most of it. now she still has many hard months ahead of her... but what a wonderful feeling to know that they are going into it with a head start. i sat up here alone all day, 2 hours north of the hospital. i accomplished nothing on my long list of things that i was supposed to do to keep my mind busy. instead i just concentrated on sending positive energy and all my love to a little girl that needed a good day. xox |
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found this sweet image somewhere a while ago... just wanted to share. i'm very grateful for all the extra love and prayers that were sent out today. we can use all the help we can get and it's much appreciated that you took the time to leave a note. |
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please enjoy the season... love your people. lots and lots. that is exactly what we're going to do. we just have to get through this first big step tomorrow... and then help her feel better and be strong for the next part. goodnight and thanks again. xoxox |
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I can't just pretend that this is going to be a normal December. There is nothing normal about it. We go about our days... things manage to get done. So many conversations about this girl the last few days. We just sit and shake our heads... and ask why? She's 11 years old. She is our niece. Information trickles in after each doctor's appointment. Kristen is funny and extremely intelligent for her age... inquisitive, strong and loving. She has a wicked, full and infectious laugh. She has cancer. A brain tumor. We are sick about it every minute. Heartbroken. I almost can't handle it... thinking of everyone's desperate and terrified feelings. It's all happened so fast... she'll have surgery Wednesday, 6 weeks of radiation and then 5 months of chemo in isolation. They're going to do everything they can for this girl. I'll be filling in the gaps... I've gathered all my angels and we've had a big talk. xox |
