The Reason for the Season

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Tree

I had an idea come to me that I believe in my heart was spiritually inspired. I won't get into the how's or why's, but I will share with you the gift I feel that my step-FIL wanted me create for my MIL.

As many of you know, I was by his side when he passed last year. It was one of the hardest moments of my life. I have felt connected to him more than ever since that time, though.

We all still feel his loss so deeply. Just the other day, Natalie said to me, "Mom. He said that they'd take me to the next race (he raced with his Ferrari). But I never got to go." That last race, he'd taken Amanda and Matthew but Natalie was too young. Hearing her say that broke my heart.

Then, I was going through old videos we have, and there was one of him kneeling down to help Matthew open one of his gifts several Christmases ago. He was SO excited for him, all animated and lively. He was so much fun. And wow did he love my kids. Like his own. Hearing his voice and seeing him again...it just felt like a punch in my stomach. It physically hurt.

On to the gift....my MIL recently sold her house after it being on the market for forever. The house she last lived in with him. She's now in a brand new condo.

We have a tree planted in our yard in memory of him. So the idea came to me (again, I believe it came from him...if I could explain how it came to me, you'd understand) to do a painting of the tree to give to her so she can have that to remember him by in her new home. A gift from him to her, though. Not from me.

So even though I was terrified to try to do the painting (I was so afraid of making it look horrible), I sat down last night and went to work. I sketched the tree from a photo I had. Then used my watercolors. This is what I ended up with:



(You can click to enlarge) Ignore the shadows on the glass.

It wasn't as awful as I was afraid it would be....I think I captured the tree fairly well.

I really can't wait to give it to her on Christmas Eve. I just wish he could be there with us instead.

Christmas Clips - Part One - Elf

In keeping with the Christmas mood here, I'm going to be posting clips from some of my favorite Christmas movies. Up today..."Elf." (hit "play" on that song above to hear the lovely voice of Zooey Deschanel from the movie....I could listen to that song all day)

Okay, ready to countdown my favorite moments? (feel free to skip ahead to #1 if you'd like because it totally rocks...but you will be missing out on the funny if you do. *grin*)

Here we go:

#8- The Escalator Ride (10 seconds) (actually one of the funniest parts of the movie for me, but this was the only clip I could find and the quality sucks)



#7- "Santa! I know him!" (1:01)



#6- Buddy discovers New York (1:04)



#5- "Did you hear that?" (18 seconds)



#4- Throne of Lies (1:48)



#3- "Baby It's Cold Outside" (1:38) (Will Ferrell singing with Zooey...isn't she amazing?!)



#2 "Buddy the Elf! What's your favorite color?" (1:25) (scroll to the end to hear the clip...this was the best I could do and definitely wanted it included since it's been our Christmas answering machine greeting for awhile)



#1- The Tree Scene (18 seconds)



We still rewind and watch this part over and over.

So what's *your* favorite color part?