Cutest Letter to Santa Ever

I had every intention of getting my blog out yesterday, and then I started looking for a particular photo to use with my blog, and ended up going down a rabbit hole looking at photos.  It wasn’t a waste of time, as it was something I planned to do in the next couple weeks anyway, but it did take longer than I expected.  The “rabbit hole” and my blog are somewhat related, since they both pertain to Christmas. 
 
Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am ready to start preparing for Christmas.  If looking at the calendar wasn’t enough to get me going, reading the letter my three-year-old granddaughter wrote (well, dictated) to Santa will do the trick.  It was sweet of her to include a request from her little sister in her letter.  And based on the number of lines on her capital “E” when she signed her name, she is pretty excited about the big guy.  Take a look at the attached picture, and you’ll see what I mean.  She is totally getting into Christmas this year. 

Thinking about my granddaughters and Christmas was indirectly responsible for the delay looking at photos yesterday.  It has been quite a while since I gathered photos of the girls to share with my mom, and I want to make sure I have some ready before Christmas.  We are going back to Wisconsin for the holiday, so I will take some printed pictures to give her.  Since the internet service in her rural area is abysmal, my mom has given up on using her computer for email or online, which means she needs to get pictures the old-fashioned way.
 
I am looking forward to the trip back to Wisconsin.  Yesterday, I booked a house for all six of us to stay in while we are up there.  The price was quite reasonable, and we all prefer a house to a hotel.  There is more room for us to spread out, and we can prepare most of our meals at the house, which is much easier than going to a restaurant for all of our meals – especially with small children.  Best of all, the lady who owns the rental house has graciously agreed to bring over some Christmas decorations and a small tree for us.  I am very grateful, because it just wouldn’t be Christmas for our granddaughters without at least a tree.
 
Now that the trip planning is under control, I need to get back to some of the other holiday tasks which need to be done in the next two weeks.  Two weeks!  Yikes!  I am not done with my shopping, and haven’t started making cookies yet.  I suspect most of you understand the slightly anxious feeling I have right now.
 
But, I know that everything that needs to get done will get done.  And the tasks are not as important as enjoying the holiday with my loved ones.  I hope all of you will also find time to relax with friends and family during the holiday season.  (And maybe some relaxing moments to sip some hot cocoa and listen to holiday music by yourself.)  Hopefully, we’ll all remember that the holiday season isn’t about frantically scrambling to produce a “perfect” event.  It’s about the love and joy and blessings wrapped up in that miraculous Christmas birth.  So, enjoy the coming weeks.  And Merry Christmas.