We have been very busy the past few days having fun and visiting with friends and family. Thursday morning Sophia and I spend some time with my friends Becca and Frank Shields, visiting before they move away to Missouri. Today we attended their going-away party, where I got to see Becca's daughters Trish and Nina. I was good friends with Trish in high school. There aren't too many people around who have known me that long. I try to keep them away from Paul so they don't tell him stories. We had lots of fun at the party, but Sophia hasn't been feeling too well today, so after about an hour, she'd had enough so we left. We spent some down time at my parent's house, and then we went out to dinner with my parents and Aunt Sue and Uncle Jim.
Also exciting the this weekend was that yesterday Sophia and I spent in Portland visiting with our cousins Kathy, Teresa, Elizabeth, Kaylee, Toddice and Great Aunt Char. For six years now, Kathy, who is my mother's first cousin, and her granddaughters Teresa and Elizabeth have come up to Portland 
and decorated my 
mother's house for Christmas. My father and I are unbelievably grateful because that was never something we enjoyed doing. While they are in Portland, Kathy's daughter Kaylee and our Aunt Char and cousin Toddice come over 4-generations of Slayton women have lunch together. It's a special holiday tradition and I was glad Sophia could join us for the first time. Now that she is crawling and standing, she also discovered that Grandma's wheelchair is very good for helping her to stand, and Grandma's knees are at a perfect height. Grandma didn't seem to mind at all!As if all of this wasn't enough for a busy weekend, today we also
decorated for Christmas. Sophia went down for a nap, and when she got up, the house looked different. She seemed very excited by the tree and all the decorations, looking at all of it with big smiles. We were careful to put non-breakable ornaments on the bottom of the tree. Also today, 
she heard The Night Before Christmas for the first time. There are so many traditions to share with her. I'm even singing Christmas songs to her, and for me, that's a big step. I may even come to like Christmas. We'll have to see.
