Well, we have made it through Christmas and it went surprisingly well.  Our daughter was a bit disappointed that Santa couldn't find a way to bring Daddy home on the sleigh, but she knows that Daddy still has work to do (even if she doesn't understand why).  I hope that everyone had a good holiday.  I am sure it was especially difficult for those with family members recently deployed.  Hopefully they will all be back home soon.

I am especially thankful for all of the people, family, friends and near strangers, who have helped make our holiday season bright this year.  Our families have gone above and beyond to support us this season, even when they are also dealing with the effects of this deployment themselves.  Holiday wishes from friends mean a lot, and are especially appreciated since many folks find it awkward to broach the subject of the holidays with spouses of deployed servicemen.  Even as we opened our presents today, several of the gifts reminded me of the kindnesses of near strangers who, hearing that Steve was deployed, went out of their way to help make our holiday special.

One gift that was particularly appreciated by family members today was a picture frame with a recordable message.  In our case, the frames made the journey to the sandbox and back to play a holiday greeting from Steve.  (One word of caution:  try to find frames that are not easily rerecordable so that you don't lose the message.)

Thank you again to all who have helped to make our holiday special, and I hope that each one of you had the best holiday possible.  Merry Christmas!  And Happy New Year!