Wednesday happies

In no particular order...

• That my mom made it back safely, albeit a bit longer than anticipated, to Iowa. We believe this may be the last time she will be able to be with both her parents and brother and sister, this side of heaven. Praying for peace + time to say goodbye for each of them.
• A sweet story from the News Tribune about a little boy named AJ and his dinosaur, Bruno. If you've been following the story of the Lakewood officers who were murdered a few weeks ago, this will warm your heart. I promise.
• An awesome early Christmas gift from Jonathan. He gave our family an annual membership to the Pt. Defiance Zoo + Northwest Trek. So looking forward to taking Thomas to see the animals, and hopefully sooner rather than later, Zoolights!
• An early Christmas present to Jonathan. I found him a fabulous Santa suit for this year and the future. When Mike and I were little, Santa was something we so looked forward to. We also had Advent elves named Sam (my elf) and Max (Mike's elf), who had a little bed on our porch and left us surprises each day during Advent. The elves also had strangely similar penmanship and spelling to my mom, something I was never able to figure out. :) So excited to continue these traditions as Thomas gets older.
• Getting all squared away for our family dinner this weekend. Given everything going on with my grandpa, it will be so good to be surrounded by my husband + son, my dad, my brother + sister + niece + mausslet in the womb, my aunt + uncle + cousin + cousin. I've hosted this family gathering the weekend before Christmas every year (except for the year we got married) since 1999. We will miss my mom, but know she is in exactly the right spot.
• Gratefulness for everyone's prayers. Thank you, from our hearts, for keeping our family in your prayers. Though there is rarely a 'good time' to say goodbye, the holidays are especially tough timing. We are continuing to pray that both my grandparents and family be comforted. ♥ ♥ ♥