I apologize for my absence. \u00a0So much happening and so many things to do. \u00a0I blog so much in my head and wish I could just transfer those brain blogs to my real blog but unfortunately not so easy. \u00a0I blog a lot on my drives. \u00a0Where do I begin? \u00a0 There has been sorrow, joy, thanksgiving and so much more. \u00a0I guess the worst thing was losing Muffy. \u00a0It was a tragic accident that took our beautiful Muffin from us on a Saturday in late November before Thanksgiving. \u00a0It was sudden and fast and left us raw and torn. \u00a0People morn in different ways but what helps me and my family heal is having something to give that love to and focus on. \u00a0So Jimi found out Muffy’s breeder had a few Maltese females and a Westie female. \u00a0On Monday before Thanksgiving Alexandra and I set out on a 6.5 hour road trip to Edinburg, PA. \u00a0Let me emphasize that is 6.5 hours each way. \u00a0It was well worth it and instead of deciding on the Maltese or the Westie, I picked the little female Maltese and the female Westie. \u00a0They were so sweet and cute and made the ride home so fun. \u00a0We stopped at several rest stops on the way home for the puppies and humans to stretch their legs and for the pups to take care of some business. \u00a0We arrived home at nearly 5 am. \u00a0The next day Luke and Ethan were so excited to see the puppies. \u00a0Ethan was calling them Muffy’s puppies and in a way I guess they are. \u00a0Names were a long time coming and believe it or not were not decided until yesterday. \u00a0We finally decided on Zoe for the Westie and Sassy for the Maltese. \u00a0We are introducing them to Diesel and Delilah slowly due to the size difference but in their time together it has been going well.<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving was a nice family day with an early dinner of turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, crescent rolls and sparkling apple juice. \u00a0For dessert we had many mini strawberry cheesecakes, butter cookies, pumpkin chip cookies, and pumpkin pie. \u00a0We also took our family pictures on Saturday evening. \u00a0We did pretty well. \u00a0It is so hard to get a good picture of everyone together but I got some nice pictures of all the kids together.<\/p>\n

Luke is developing such a little personality. \u00a0He is such a joy. \u00a0He says hi to everyone by name and at the store he waves and says hi to everyone. \u00a0He insists on giving me multiple good night kisses alternating between me and Alexandra when Jimi is going to bring him up to bed. \u00a0He is such a love. \u00a0Ethan is high energy all the time but is sweet too. \u00a0He is so smart and so determined. \u00a0He gets himself into many situations involving things he should not be into and creates many messes around the house. \u00a0 He is a very challenging child but a very loving soul as well. \u00a0He can exasperate you at one point and then in the next moment be so sweet and loving it makes you forget everything.<\/p>\n

So now the Christmas season is in full swing. \u00a0It feels like time is tick tick ticking away. \u00a0I have \u00a0some of the decorations up but many more to go. \u00a0The laser business is so busy and Jimi and I are very frazzled with all the work but we are thankful for the opportunity. \u00a0 We are doing the best we can and I guess that is all anyone can do. \u00a0I try not to stress about everything having to be perfect because things are not that way with our hectic life. \u00a0I try to be thankful for the blessings we have because we are truly very blessed. \u00a0In this time of Thanksgiving and going toward the \u00a0Christmas Holidays it shows me that the rich blessing of family should never be taken for granted. \u00a0I am so thankful for my wonderful, terrific, crazy family!!! \u00a0Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and enjoy this wonderful Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n