Whew. Let’s recount:
10: the number days on the road
11: the number of flu infectations (at last report)
1: the number of ear infections
3: the number of gifts that had to be left behind due to cargo limitations
5: the number of rolls of film taken by the grandmothers (percentage of photos with Stella as subject: 97.6%)
4: the number of location changes from the time we left until the time we got home
8 Gazillion: the number of Stella’s birthday and christmas gifts we are now trying to fit in our house
10 Gazillion: the number of times Stella pointed at something and said “Dat?”

A fun — and eventful — time was had by all. Steve & Natalie got to have an evening out on the town for New Year’s and the Grandparent’s were able to get in a good workout without even having to go to the gym (it’s called the Stella-Bend-and-Lift).

Our house was in one piece when we got home, and aside from the 5 birds Rosie brought in, there were no other intruders. It has taken us a couple of days, but the house is looking less and less like Christmas and we are now starting our look ahead to the work to be done on the house. It seems to always be the case that as soon as you make plans for the new the old becomes practically unbearable. The reality of a new kitchen and bathroom makes me loathe our current one all the more. But first, we will begin in with the fireplace insert, then the floors. Only the preliminary stuff can be done with everything else. In terms of our cool new remodel, summer can’t get here fast enough.

Hoping everyone is gracefully recovering from holiday mania. These photos span from early December through the new year.