Happy Happy Happy New Year!

 I saw this photo on facebook and loved it instantly...

this is exactly how I feel about the change of the year.
The old is washed away, leaving a pristine new surface 

for us to fill with everything that matters to us. 

Ever since I was a little Debby, I have looked at it like this:
"A New Year is like a pad of blank drawing paper, with endless possibilities!"

 We can use pencils and crayons and markers and paints

to fill that blank canvas with anything we want to... and oh, how I plan to!

More about what I see for me in the coming year in another post.
Right now, I have something far more important to share...

Christmas with my family in Seattle was wonderful!
The cousins - three little boys who hadn't met until last week - 

loved each other and had a great time together.
And oh, did I enjoy being with them:

We all did some sightseeing, spent time in my daughters' homes, 

and enjoyed our first Christmas all together in seven years!

It was a joy beyond anything I could have imagined 

to be with all four of my children and their families again,

to be able to hug them and tell them I love them,

to remember all of the Christmases spent with them

and to look forward to more time spent together in the future...

I took a few moments to look through 'the Christmas Book', 

which is a photo album that I made years ago of all of our 'Kennedy Family Christmases'.
[The girls are all married with new last names now, but we're all still Kennedy's - and always will be.]
It brought tears to my eyes, I won't lie...

I blinked them back and tried to stay composed as my heart cried out 'WHY?'
I won't ever get that answer, I know.

That book and the photos in it hold very happy and very sad memories now,

but I am so very grateful for the fact that we can look back 

and see so much joy, so much love, so much laughter that we all shared together...
and that the traditions that mean so much are still shared.

At the heart of a Kennedy Family Christmas is the knowledge that we love each other dearly,

and we'll always be there for one another. 

We are Family. Nothing will ever change that...

 and that is the greatest gift of all.
{thank you to Lori, and my parents, and the friends who all believed that this would happen one day.

when my faith was waning, when my hope was lost, you believed FOR me. your prayers helped this happen,

and i love you all... }