Happy New Year

After almost two fabulous weeks of exploring the world, playing wii, and living like rock stars;

(J and M with their gifts on Christmas morning)

tons of quality family time;

(The cousins @ AKs on Christmas Day)

(D and his bros with the kids)

(Tacoma Zoo)

(Mt. Ranier)

plenty of fun;

the obligatory drinking,

eating,


and being merry;

not to mention loads of undone laundry;

and the occasional breaking of the law,

D went back to work, J went back to school, M went back to BabyGym, and all of us went back to reality today. It's always bittersweet; for the last three years D has taken the week between Christmas and New Years off. It's a fun-filled time with lots of lazy days sprinkled in. This year included a trip to Portland with a stay at the Embassy Suites on Christmas Day; a trip to Seattle, if only for M's allergist appointment and dim sum, but punctuated with Zoolights that evening; and a snowy-filled day at Mt. Ranier National Park.

While many people are into their fourth day of resolutions, done with those 72 hours that rid their bodies of whatever toxins were invading them or just getting rid of the soreness the weights inflicted, today is the first day of mine. I'm taking a trip to South Beach for the next couple of weeks and hope to come back with a little less weight in my luggage.

I have a good feeling about this year. Between the 1st and the 3rd we managed to clean out the garage, the front closet, and I put a big dent in the reorganization of the bonus room. And today, after a slow and rocky start, has been great.

For D, today was his first day back to tending to the business of farmers, but his work as a husband and daddy is never-ending.

And we love him for it.

Here's to 2010!