"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal. And a Happy New Year."

Hopefully the title of this post hasn't turned you away, but has instead brought to mind a popular Christmas movie starring Mr. Culkin.  This quote in no way paints our holiday season, but it became an inside joke in our family after little innocent Miles decided to blast "Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals" from on top of the sled run, before heading down.  This quote was only second this season in use to Uncle Louis's exaggerated, "The BLLLESSSSIINNNGGG."

True to tradition, our holiday season was full and busy.  An entire month of activities and preparation, both at school and at home.  An entire month of experiencing the Christmas spirit.  An entire month of being determined to do as much shopping as possible locally or via Amazon.  I spent one day in Medford over the Thanksgiving break and I vowed to not return until the new year.  I made it.  An entire month of living the mantra, "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas instead, is a little bit more."

A little bit more indeed.  Experiences were more valuable than gold this holiday season.  After opening gifts on Christmas morning we asked Miles what his favorite present was.  He replied, "Spending time with my family."  Thinking he just might be feeling guilty for the overuse of inappropriate holiday movie quotes, I asked him a few days later and he still replied the same.

I don't think I've ever felt that Christmas came from a store, but this year I really felt how much "more" it was.  It started with an evening sledding party.  The natural hillside was blanketed in several feet of powder and outdoor lights illuminated a sparkling sled run full of happy children and thousands of new snowflakes still falling.  A night of family fun.  The spirit continued with the 47th annual Fort Jones Christmas Parade and our school float.  I hosted my staff Ugly Sweater Party and had fellowship with my team of educators.  Bradley and I attended another adult Ugly Sweater Party and I placed 2nd in the sharpshooter BB gun contest.  Turns out those shiny metal Christmas bulbs get a little blurry the more shots of Fireball you take.  I took first place for the women's division in the Ugly Sweater Run at our YMCA, and enjoyed early powder runs on the backside of our local mountain.

The boys chose toys to purchase at our local Hardware store and placed them in the Toys for Tots container.  Christmas cards were mailed near and far.  Miles was Frosty in the Christmas dance show and Carter performed in his school performance.  We went skiing and sledding multiple times, enjoying time with friends and family.  All of the holiday movies were watched, some more than once.  The kids rearranged the nativity sets multiple times, but that's about as religious as it got this year.  I managed to bake Christmas cookies and find Santa (in Fort Jones of all places) in the "11th hour", and the boys built a snowman or two.  It was a white Christmas Eve day spent delivering cards and gifts to neighbors.  The gift of two handsome boys in hand crocheted Santa hats saying "Merry Christmas" in the falling snow was appreciated by many.  Christmas Eve was spent at the Isbells and Christmas Day was spent at home.  My mom joined us for the afternoon and evening.  Moscow Mules, homemade Mac and Cheese, cookies, candies, and leftovers.

Cousins from southern California came to visit and many memories were made.  They went sledding on Salmon Mountain in four feet of snow, and sledding at the ranched in three inches of snow.  Shooting skeet was a hit and the bonfire kept everyone warm.  They all had a sleepover together and even managed to rest.  Board games, bowling, and plenty of laughter.  The gift of time with family.

On this first day of 2016, I sat back and skimmed our photos this year.  Our family committed to slowing down and focusing on each other in 2015.  Perhaps the biggest evidence of this was not doing the pumpkin patch and scaling our garden back.  In all honesty, we were still so busy, but we were able to balance our busy schedules and our downtime in a much easier manner.

Significant events of 2015 included:

• Miles turning four years old.
• Carter graduating Kindergarten and turning six.
• Joy and Bradley celebrating 10 years of marriage and took a trip to Cabo.
• Miles learned to ski and ride a bike with training wheels.
• Our dog of nearly 12 years passed away.
• Joy and Miles took a trip to New Mexico to visit the Howard Trio and their parents.
• Our family went to San Francisco for Miles' 4th birthday.
• Joy completed a 50k trail race.
• Our family took a trip to the coast with friends and Bradley caught a 29 pound salmon.
• We enhanced our backyard patio with a beautiful bar/seating area.
• Bradley built a nice shed off of our barn with amazing organizational capacity.
• We welcomed "Mary" a border collie/terrier mix into our family.
• Bradley finished a beautiful apartment in our barn.  We hope to welcome visitors in 2016!

Enjoy the New Year and cheers to 2016!