the best thing about presents is the wrapping paper

Little peanut

Oma & Opa Albrecht come to town

Mateo opens his first Christmas present... (best part: the wrapping paper)

Toben helps with the unwrapping

Mateo is eating Baby Jesus, part of his Christmas present from Oma & Opa Albrecht

Proud grandparents :)

Haircut #2 or oops, i did it again

BEFORE

AFTER

Mikael

This week, a high school friend of mine committed suicide. He had been struggling with severe mental illness for a while. Although Mikael & I were not close friends lately, he was always somebody whom I appreciated greatly in high school. His obituary, written by his mother, can be read here.

Here is what I will remember about Mikael:

he was such a gentle person

he was a total weirdo - seriously, who else would eat almost a whole pound of sugar just because the boys only used about a tablespoon for pancakes on the grade 9 camping trip... ;)

he noticed things about other people & was intuitive about what was helpful to say if someone was having difficulty.

Our prayers are with the Chan family this week, & in the weeks ahead, where the pain of his death with be continually felt acutely.

Mikael- you are in a safe place now, where nothing can hurt you anymore.

baby bear: a photo shoot

chicken little: a photo shoot

Giggles with Papa