This holiday season was especially wonderful and we are still feeling rays of sunshine on our backs from all the goodness. My siblings and I were all home in Jersey for pre-Christmas for the first time in 5 years and this time there were 4 kiddos cuddling next to me for books and begging me to play anything with them. We saw Walker’s whole family on Christmas in the magical gingerbread-and-ice-candle-land my in-laws always create in Minnesota. Right on Christmas evening, a white Christmas fell. And then, we had time to breath clean, dry Arizona air, and fall sleep to the sound of logs breaking into smolders in our casita. A quiet, cozy New Year.

Honestly, 2015 wasn’t my favorite year. Things often seemed sticky and sad in the world, and my health wasn’t grand. And yet, it was the year I have felt most at home since Scotland, the year of my sister having her first baby, the year of 5 years celebrated on a glacier in Iceland, the year of more dinner parties than ever on Washington Street in Dumbo. The year of Walker’s new business idea. The year of the most walks by the water, and a park extension outside opening. The year of an unexpectedly low rent hike. The year of travel to California, Grand Cayman, Minnesota, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. We ended the year here and the bottom of my bucket list fell a mile into the Colorado River.

As we head into 2016, I am full and grateful for our beautiful, dinged-up, wild life. The new year has already brought gifts unexpected. We are planning a year of adventures, many weddings, stacks of books, even more friends at our worn table.

Thank you for stopping by our blog again this year. We love sharing the world with you. It’s a beaut! Come back soon for photos of eagles over the land of ten thousand lakes and many Sonoran desert vistas.

Bonus points for spotting the house above!