A Sweet Prayer for a New Year.

I love it when my family from Arizona comes for a visit. This time it was Duane, Tricia, & their three girls. We went to the San Diego Zoo with them. Very fun. Very busy. Never go between Christmas & New Year's, but it was still a great day.

When we finally made it home we were so tired from all the walking and driving. The dads fell asleep right away but all the children were wide awake because they slept in the car the whole way home. Tricia and I tried to calm them down with a movie and hot chocolate. No, the hot chocolate was for Tricia, to wake her up. I got comfy on the couch. And the next thing I realized, I was alone and still on the couch. The tv was off. The lights, most of them were off. The clock: 2am. I checked the doors and stumbled upstairs to my bed.

The next morning the first person I saw was Audrey, Duane's oldest. By the way, she was always the first one up in the morning. I asked her about the previous night. Apparently, I fell asleep while Tricia was talking to me. Then Tricia went to bed. Then Meagan & Addie went to sleep. That left Sadie 3, Andrew & Annelise 5, & Audrey 8 up watching Horton hears a who.

I love this movie. My favorite quote: "Stop having fun, immediately!"

What happened next? Audrey said that she and Andrew were the last ones to go to bed...at 11:30. She turned off the tv. That's nice. And yes, she was the first one up in the morning. What a cutie. All of Duane's girls are so darling.

Annelise

The Arizona visitors stayed with us through New Year's day. So after a late New Year's Eve celebration I woke up to make those yummy buttermilk waffles. Only the little girls were awake.

How fun to have a breakfast date with my darling nieces. I made them waffles and couldn't resist using the batten burg lace place mats and pink & white gingham napkins. {I adore girls} I asked Annelise to say the prayer. She accepted happily.

Please bless us to go home sleepy(I'm sure she meant safely)...Help us to choose the right...Please help us to love each other...Please bless Peter to get better...

Peter & Sadie & hippo

Update on Peter: We received a call from one of his doctors, telling us that the hepatoblastoma expert recommended two more rounds of chemotherapy. A little disappointed but understanding we agreed to it. We took Peter in on New Years day to start the first round. It hit him hard this time. But after it was out of his system he bounced right back and now he's home. He is amazing.