Ring Around the Rosie, Pocket Full of Kleenex

December just hanging around on a dining room chair

December examining the doll in her high chair, complete with a bib

She's quite interested that there is another "baby" in her high chair!

December has this crazy face she makes where she clenches her fists, neck, and all the muscles in her face. It makes us laugh, so she likes to do it

In this picture, Mom is off to December's left, and Mom is mirroring the crazy face back to her, which makes December laugh

Mom and December playing Ring Around the Rosie, one of December's new favorite games. She now comes up to me and pleads, "Oh-Eee! Oh-Eee!" (which means, "Rosie! Rosie!")

Mom is now back home, safe and sound. We dropped her off at the airport yesterday morning, which was soo sad for us! On the way there, we drove around a bit and found some of the fire damage. We drove up to the top of one hill and pulled into a driveway where the next-door neighbor's house was burned completely to the ground. The sidewalk just led up to nothing-ness. It was a smoky pile of gray matter. The person's house that we had pulled into had their yard completely blackened by the fire, all the way up to their house. The fire-fighters must have worked extremely hard to keep that house from going up in flames, too. The damage was pretty incredible to see.

After we dropped Mom off at the airport and came home, the house felt really empty and quiet. We miss her alot! We had a great time together, even despite the fire-craziness! Today was Brad's long day at seminary, so I was very lonely at home. I couldn't find enough stuff to do to keep me from thinking about how much I miss my dear mother! It's been a sad day. :( It probably helped that December had a bit of a rotten day, too. Her fussiness and bad naps kept me busier than I otherwise would be. It's not often that I'm thankful for December's crankiness, but today I am -- very much!