Someone was insistent that I needed to have one candle for every year of my life-to-date. If you count ‘em you’ll find that there are 45 brightly colored candles here. I kept waiting for the smoke detector to go off. I must admit, it was kind of awesome to see my life signified like this. [...]

It was a long night for Santa Claus. He’s tired and his suit needs cleaning. He wants you all to know that even though he is now the one nestled all snug in his bed, he’s still watching. He’ll know if you are naughty or nice. So please, be nice.

…and a Happy New Year!

Every year, we add new ornaments to our collection. Although I have deviated from tradition in the last few years, I usually select one new ornament for each person based on highlights in that person’s year. The idea is that when each son takes a bride, I’ll wrap up his collection of ornaments and hand [...]