Trying for Normal

Seems like the holiday time gets so jumbled. And for our family last Christmas and this Christmas haven't been entirely what I would consider normal. A year ago today we said goodbye to a baby we never got to know. We mourned losing a daughter. The children mourned losing a sister. This year we are in the process of moving out. So packing up. Not entirely the best time to be pulling out Christmas decorations and cluttering the house up.

However, today in trying to make the day a little more upbeat so we weren't feeling so sad with the memory of a year ago today we put up our Christmas tree. Of course that was after the girls went through their toys and decided what to keep and what should go and after I had spent the day going through old papers and discarding things we no longer needed and filing those that we do need.

After Joe got home from work we brought the tree up and started decorating. I started a big pot of sauce and cooked up some sausage to go in with it and we went to town. I think we had a good time. And we didn't forget to light a candle for our angel Celeste Alia.

CJ all decorated for Christmas

Natalie helping fix the branches on the tree

Kaitlyn helping fix the branches on the tree

Natalie helping CJ put an ornament on the tree

Daddy helping CJ put an ornament on the tree

Yay CJ!

Kaitlyn putting an ornament on the tree

Natalie putting an ornament on the tree

Bellies full, all cleaned up, and sitting in front of the tree

The best part, looking at the tree from the inside after it's all decorated

CJ in the tree

Natalie in the tree

Kaitlyn in the tree

I'm feeling like we made some nice memories for what I worried was going to be a very sad day for all of us. Rest in Peace my Angel Celeste Alia!