Peg’s Journal

PHOTO JOURNAL

Saturday~

The kiddies and I spent the day braving the mall with Cin, Daisy, and lil’ Christopher. I must have been out of my mind choosing the mall as a meeting place during the holiday season….Valley Fair was madness.

Ashlyn and Christopher had a blast playing with one another while we shopped. Thanks, Cin and Daisy!
Spending a whole day at the mall can be exausting. It doesn’t help that I’m still battling this stupid cold for the past two weeks.

The kiddies and I spent a cozy evening at home with Wil.

HAHAHA!

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Sunday~

YAY! We finally got around to picking up a Christmas tree! I thought we got an excellent deal, too…an 8-footer for $45!
Decorating the tree is always so much fun. Ashlyn really enjoyed it…and only accidentally broke 3 ornaments. hehehe

Last year, I spent the holiday season in Taiwan with Aric, Ashlyn, and Janie (Aric’s co-worker). Aric and I bought an artificial tree at RT-Mart (similar to WalMart) for $6 USD. We bought ornaments for the tree and decorations to make our apartment look and feel more festive. But being so far from home, family, and friends, it didn’t feel like the holidays at all. Our Christmas came and went like any other day…the only thing to show for is a video of Ashlyn opening gifts that friends generously shipped over and some that Aric and I got for her.

This will be the first year that Ashlyn is old enough to know and remember what Christmas is. She excitedly points out all the houses that string up lights and has lawn decorations. Her eyes fill with awe and wonderment at all the displays at the malls and stores. Oh, which reminds me of a funny story….last friday, Ashlyn and I went to pick up lunch at Taco Bell. Right when we walked in, Ashlyn loudly exclaims, “Ooooooh!…look, mom, it’s so beautiful!”
Huh?…Taco Bell???…beautifull??? I, along with everyone else in line, looked around at the skimpy lights they strung up and the meager cardboard cutouts that were taped to the walls….and we all began laughing. I’m not sure if we were laughing for the same reasons though. I think it’s heartwarming that kids find beauty in things we often don’t notice. I hope the person who decorated that Taco Bell knows that his/her efforts has not gone unappreciated.

In case you’re wondering….Ashlyn’s currently crazy about the Princess line (Disney and Barbie). She’s been wearing the feathered tiara, necklace, clip-on earrings for last couple of days. And yeah, I let her leave the house looking like that.

Spent a nice relaxing evening with Tony, Wil, the kids, my nieces, and Bett.
Hoped you had a great weekend!