This time of year always seems to highlight the importance of the people we hold most dear in our lives. In particular, after 10 months of being away from all our family and friends, I think we have a renewed appreciation of how special it is to be able to share the holidays with family.

Thanksgiving was a beautiful affair at my brother and sister-in-laws home -- my parents, grandparents, uncle Art and cousin Max all joined in the celebration, along with Jason’s whole family. It was adorable to see my first cousin Max and my little niece Ari become fast friends (although Max had enough of her after about an hour!) Also, cooking alongside my mom in preparation for the meal was so much fun – it had been many, many years since we last had shared the same kitchen together, and truly was nice reconnecting over the open flame.

We’ve now been in Scottsdale, AZ for officially one month. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone, since we really haven’t done much of anything while being here (a complete 180 from our time on the road). We have managed to spend some wonderful quality time with Ari, Jason taking her to a swimming class one evening (in the pool with her) and I’ve hit up a couple Friday morning music classes. As I sit here right now, Ari is actually taking one of her 3 hour marathon naps at our place (so is Jason), since I think our mall time earlier today wore them both out.

Last night we had a Hannukah party, which was not only a celebration of the festival of lights, but also a tribute to everything Dora. If you don’t have children or nieces and nephews this might mean nothing, but Dora the Explorer is taking over the world. When both I and Ari’s parent have bought the same Dora puppet by coincidence, you know a product is doing well. Not to mention the Dora rug, Dora blanket, Dora outfit, and Dora washcloth that were all dawned upon our little angel last night. The energy and excitement of Hannukah that I felt as a little girl, was awash in Ari as she danced to the driedel song, ripped open everyone’s presents and gobbled down latkes, gelt, and Hannukah cookies all night long!

As some might have noticed, we aren’t quite updating our website with the frequency as when we were on the road. Seeing as the content of our lives is a lot less climatic to the events of this year, it’s been difficult to muster it. BUT, I realize that often times it’s the simple things in life that are the most fulfilling -- the wonderful dinners with my grandparents, or movie night with Scott, or girls lunch with Amanda, and evening dinner with my in-laws, really are the things that are most important.