December images: week three

: Melodie :

patience.



: Helen :

let the festivities begin!



: Darcy :

over the passes and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go.

backseat driver.

: Amy :

 i am astonished that he puts the lids back on when he's done.

my toast, had I given one, would have been:  to our lovely hosts who have brought us together on this winter night to remind us that warmth and light can be summoned and to celebrate that our darkest days are behind us.

About the guest photographers:

Melodie lives in the beautiful Skagit Valley with her family and a terrier named Toby.  Her proudest bucket list moment was on December 11 when she realized, while driving her kids to school, that she knew the Big Sean rap in the bridge of Justin Beiber's As Long As You Love Me, stone cold. She also makes outstanding panini.

Helen lives in the beautiful napa valley with her husband and two amazing children. Though educated in the law, Helen recently shelved her legal skills for dress-up tea parties, "if you're happy and you know it" marathons, and travels with toddlers. She has yet to look back; she's having too much fun.

Darcy is a champion of the environment, the voice of reason in a large family, a gardener, and a lover of music and dogs.  She lives in the emerald city in a green house with beautiful roses, along with her son and husband.