way better.

after complaining

non-stop about

how much i hate

the holidays,

something interesting happened

this year...

i suppose i could

wait until the

end of the post

to tell you that

i actually

enjoyed this one,

but why keep

you in suspense?



so here's why

this one didn't suck...

i watched as

my california girl

fell deeply in

love with a climate

few can stand.

i suppose

it had little to

do with this:



this:



and this:



and more to do

with this:



this:



this:



this:



and this:



to top it all

off, maddy got to

crawl through

her very own snow fort.













and as if

watching her enjoy

all of

these winter adventures

wasn't enough,

i watched

as all of

our individual

families came together

to form

a serious voltron-like

family to help

maddy take

part in a christmas

tradition that

was a big part of

her mother's childhood,

as well as her

brookie's childhood.















i also got to watch

my daughter enjoy

christmas the way

i used to when

i was a kid:













and the way i used

to when her

mom

was alive:









and the way that

we do now.

and then the best

part for me...

to experience

all of this

from her perspective.



to see her not

worried about any

of the things i

worry about at

this time of year.

to see her happy

to be surrounded by

family both

old and new.

to see her

go from scared

to excited when

she opened up

that remote

controlled tarantula.



to see her

lose her mind

over those talking dinosaurs.



to listen to her

inside a huge

box yelling,

"open your gift, daddy!"

and to hear her

laughing as i opened

up the box

to find her inside...

well, it's pretty

impossible to hate

a holiday that

includes all of that.