Merry Christmas!

Yesterday Erin's sister, brother-in-law and nephew received the best Christmas present they could ask for: our nephew was taken off of oxygen and is now breathing all by himself! We continue to fervently pray that he will have no other breathing issues. He also was taken off one of his medications that was helping him "remember" to keep breathing, so we think he's now down to only two medications/vitamins that Erin's sister has to give him everyday. Merry Christmas!

These posts don't seem so "adventurous" now that we're not living in a foreign country, but our lives feel full nonetheless. With moving, remodeling the house, Erin's nightmarish job experience, and the premature birth of our nephew the year has been stressful. We guess it's adventurous in it's own unpredictable way.

In other news, it has been close to 80 degrees here in Dallas. Erin thinks it is absolutely ridiculous for it to be this warm less than a week before Christmas. John absolutely loves the warm temperatures and claims it feels like his favorite season outside: spring. Yes, therein lies the problem. It is not spring. It is the time of year for nativities, Christmas trees, caroling, hot chocolate.....and cold weather! Erin is hoping for a cold snap for Christmas. If not, she'll have to make do looking at pictures of Christmases gone by when there was snow and the thermometer dipped down to freezing. (That would really just be the last two years when we lived in Europe.)

The mysterious part of all this is that both of us grew up in the southern United States. Why does John love mild temperatures while Erin continues to believe winter should come with cold, crisp air and snow? She clings to this idea of fall and winter as if she grew up in a place where there were four distinct seasons. Can't anyone agree with her that cold weather lends to more coziness? Fires in the fireplace, hot drinks, fluffy blankets, snuggling with your loved one? In this household she is alone in her sentiments.

Bring on the shorts, T-shirts, barbecues, iced tea and lemonade; it's Christmas in Dallas.