I’ve been soaking up time with my family and reveling in the moments I’m able to enjoy with them. I suppose I am used to living away from family – having grown up hours away from grandparents, aunts + uncles and cousins – but now more than ever I enjoy being there for the small everyday activities. They are moments that are strung together and side by side they make up what we know as life, and I like being there for it. Eating dinner together, borrowing cups of powdered sugar to make cookies, staying up to play Scrabble and the list goes on. Yesterday it included taking my niece Julia ice skating for the first time. We went to the very same place Matt and I had a few of our engagement pictures taken four years ago, and it was fun to think about how much had happened between then and now. I put Matt in charge of documenting the fun while my sister and I helped Julia around the rink at least 10 times. We encouraged her, sang songs, and got tips from coach Matt as she experienced the slippery sensation of moving on ice. While it wasn’t without some lack of confidence, she loved it and I’m sure by next year she will be skating on her own.

While Christmas in Michigan has been wonderful, it has not been without tragedy. In contrast to the small daily moments are the large life changing ones, which have come on two occasions this year. A car accident involving a member of my family (they are doing okay) and a death in Matt’s family has made the holidays challenging. However, as family comes together in both incidences I am reminded of what it means to be a family in the first place, and once again enjoy those small moments we get to share.