If I’m being honest, I set my expectations pretty low this holiday season. It’s been a hard year for everyone, our country is divided, covid-19 cases are reportedly rising, our state is still pretty shut down, gatherings are prohibited, most churches are closed and many of the activities that I thought made the holiday season special were cancelled.
But then one day my middle daughter, London, came bursting into the room with this infectious joyful Christmas spirit that couldn’t be contained. She was absolutely beaming, and her excitement was uncontrollable. Everyone had to dress in “Christmas clothes”, every surface in the house needed to be decorated (there were Christmas stickers being slapped everywhere in the house) and only Christmas songs could be listened to. London’s Christmas spirit was a light in what felt like a pretty dark season… and her light spread throughout our family and home and changed my heart.
This holiday season my children have given me the gift of their joyful wonder of the world. It’s the way they look at the snow falling… the way they believe in the magic of the season… their excitement for the smallest things… Their perspective and view on life has reminded me of what really matters and who really matters. This holiday season has looked pretty different in a lot of ways… but I wouldn’t change a thing. This will truly be a Christmas to remember.
From our family to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas…. may you have child-like faith, and be filled with wonder, anticipation… and most importantly… hope.
Photos by the incredible Mary Pastuh
Do you ever think about all of the people you pass daily? Who are they? What is their story? What are they going through in life? Where have they been? What are their dreams? How would your life be different if you knew them? What would happen if you stopped and had a simple conversation? 
Several years ago we missed a ferry we were trying to catch so we could get home after a long wedding weekend on an island. I was frustrated when I realized we had to wait a couple hours before the next ferry would be available. We decided to make the best of the situation and found a cute little restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The only problem was that every table was full and there was nowhere to sit and enjoy our meal. We wandered for a bit and eventually found a quiet courtyard that was empty, except for a young couple with the most beautiful little girl.
Typically, the day after a wedding I am exhausted and all I want to do is sit in silence, mindlessly scroll through social media and get a little bit of alone time so I can recover before quickly starting the production of our next event. This day was different. As Jamie and I watched this little girl joyfully run through the grass, we started talking about someday having kids of our own and wondered how we would possibly manage having a family and our business. We were so intrigued by this little girl and her family. As we finished our lunch I politely complemented the couple on their daughter, thinking it would just be a passing comment. The next thing I knew we were in a full conversation talking about life, careers, the beauty of having kids, finding each other on social media and making plans to connect. 
The conversation that started that day with Christiana and Todd has evolved into a beautiful, cherished, life-giving friendship. Life has changed so much for both of our families over the past several years with the addition of three (almost four) babies to the mix, but one thing that has remained steady is our genuine excitement to spend time together whenever we get the chance. This is especially true when it involves our annual Christmas tradition of baking and decorating sugar cookies together.
For the past several years, before Cove was thought of, Grey was born, Cruz could walk and Isola was the only child that could participate, we have rolled out and cut cookies together, squeezed out mountains of icing, finished them off with “toppers” (more commonly known to others as sprinkles) and consumed way too much sugar. This tradition is one of the things I look forward to the most during the Christmas season. Yes, the kitchen becomes a disaster and we might find “toppers” floating around the floor for the next year to come, but the mess is worth the price, because of the joy that comes from the time we spend together and all of the memories that are being created. 
I love that our kids will grow up together with memories of this tradition. Even more, I love the friendship that we’ve developed over the years. I value having experienced parents that we can lean on for support. I feel safe knowing that we have friends we can confide in and talk freely with, never worrying about any kind of judgment. I feel comforted knowing we can always just be ourselves. True friendships like these are hard to find, and when you do find them you realize what a gift they really are.
This Christmas I am thankful for that missed ferry ride and serendipitously meeting beautiful-hearted people through a chance encounter at an island café. I’m so glad we started a little conversation that day, as now I can’t even imagine life differently. It leads me to wonder what would happen if we were more aware of the people we were passing each day and intentionally took the time to slow down and just start a simple conversation. I have a feeling there would be a lot more sugar cookies with too much icing and sprinkled “toppers” on kitchen floors.
Oh- and can we all agree that the kids did a beautiful job decorating their cookies? I honestly prefer them to the more detailed ones I created! 
