I'm back.

Yes, I'm still here! 

My last post was on December 18th.  On December 19th we packed up the car and started the long drive to Massachusetts and didn't arrive back home until December 31st.

I'm not one of those well-prepared bloggers who plans and writes posts ahead of time but I am one of those bloggers who needs complete silence, sleeping children (or children away at school), a large mug of coffee and a little time to compose a semi-coherent blog post.

And I just haven't had all of those things until this very minute.  So, here I am!

We had a nice trip to Massachusetts.  It's always nice to spend time with Dan's side of the family and my kids just love it up there.  For them, it really wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't go. 

I always worry that the gifts I ordered aren't going to be there when we arrive, or that something is going to happen and the gifts will be there and we will be here or stuck somewhere in between and then what would happen?! 

This year, I had the added worry that  I would go into labor before we got there and then we would be here and the gifts would be in their Amazon boxes in Massachusetts and how in the world would Santa magically get them back down here in time for Christmas morning?  Just a few of the things that Mama-Santa has to worry about when preparing for Christmas in a different state than her own.

But never fear, the presents were all there and I managed to get them wrapped and ready for Christmas morning in plenty of time and the kids seemed genuinely happy with everything they received.  That's also another fear for Mama-Santa, especially for a Mama-Santa whose babies refuse to make a wish list!

When we arrived there was a lot of snow of the ground from a large storm a few days earlier but it was about to melt so we took the kids sledding immediately and it was a good thing because it had all disappeared by that evening.  They had a blast and they got their Christmas vacation snow and all was well.  It even snowed a little bit a few days later so they were doubly happy.

The only negative on the whole entire trip was some unexpected bad news we received while we were there.

We had gone to visit the Massachusetts State House and to see some sights around Boston when we received the call that Dan's mom (who has Alzheimer's and lives in an assisted living facility) had a nosebleed they couldn't stop and was sent to the hospital.

We left Boston to visit her in the hospital where the doctor's informed us that Nana most likely has leukemia.  This was a complete shock to us all.

More tests are being run, and thanks to the holidays they are taking their own sweet time to come back, but all signs are pointing to leukemia.  If in fact it is leukemia, the doctor's have given her between 2-6 more months.

As Dan sarcastically said, "2014 is shaping up to be a real winner of a year."

I am trying to remain optimistic about 2014 because I do believe that God works great things in the midst of  trials.  I am continuing to pray for our baby and for Nana and doing the only I can do...just taking it one day at a time. Just like it says at the top of my blog and in Matthew 6:34:

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.