some christmas highlights

We have been having beautiful days. I hope you have, too.

There was a snow-covered, late afternoon adventure cutting Christmas trees at my parents' farm.

Christmas Eve happens to be Matthias' birthday, so I baked a cake

and made pizzas for dinner shared with my parents, my brother and his dad.

Christmas day was snowy and beautiful out at the farm.

We ate a lot, laughed a lot and mostly just enjoyed the slower pace of a quiet holiday.

Then yesterday there was a bit of excitement when my brother arrived at the house with a bag filled with fish he'd just caught ice fishing on the Mississippi River.

I never imagined I'd be spending the day after Christmas learning how to filet fish. The meal was delicious. Freshly caught fish eaten with potatoes and corn, each grown by new friends.

We'll be celebrating for a few more days, but I've also been thinking about this past year and looking ahead to this coming year. Lots to think about. Lots of ideas. Lots of plans. I hope you are able to savor these last days of 2013.