FIFTY-TWO

Salem begrudgingly signing his name on a present to Kip. 

2025 week fifty-two

The two-story, two bedroom, one hallway fort that Theo and V lived in for the first few days of Christmas Break. 

Last Sunday, Matt and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary. I got him a coffee advent calendar and he got me a beautiful pearl necklace. We went out to Thai food for dinner and did stocking stuffer shopping. I also slept 10+ hours that night and took a nap. So it was a great anniversary. 

Our favorite Dallas kids came to visit us and the chickens. 

V showed them how we swing through our leaf piles. 

Then we got out the magnitiles and Calico Critters and had a great time oohing and aahing over the tiny cute pieces. 

Whole Cole Clan photo after our 12 Days of Christmas Dinner. 

Customary cousin Nativity play. 

Christmas Eve was our traditional Chinese take out and It's a Wonderful Life viewing before stuffing all the stockings. Christmas morning was slow and delightful. 

Grandma joined us for stockings. 

The cats also got to play with the wrappings. 

Merry Christmas! 

My mom sent me an exact replica of my favorite tea cup of hers. It has stamped "Made in the USSR" on the bottom. 

Our weather was remarkably warm so Theo had a cousin over the day after Christmas and they spent 8 hours playing hard. Battleship, legos, baseball, etc. They were so wholesome cheerfully running to all the neighbors to fetch the baseballs they kept hitting into their yards. 

Last year I gave Theo this little build it yourself greenhouse. It quickly became apparent that it was rather too advanced even for him. I got it back out and spent several happy hours listening to a book and assembling all the plants and furniture. It looks so sweet in the evening on the shelf lit up. 

Matt hosted another hot wings night for 15 people. He smoked over 300 wings and we air fried them and served them in courses from mild to hot. 

I had a little buddy in the kitchen with me. 

Each round also came with two questions for people to answer as they waited for the next batch of wings to be ready. 

By round 8, people were hurting. 

Everyones noses and foreheads got progressively more red. 

7 of the 15 made it through all 10 rounds. I quit on round 9. When they start tasting bad, the pain no longer feels worth it. A lot of ice cream was consumed once everyone's stomachs recovered a bit. 

Park morning with some of the cousins. 

The best of all breakfasts are at a quiet table with my favorite show, the window open, and kids playing outside. 

Happy End of 2025!