Happy Tuesday evening, friends. Sorry for my lateness in posting. The past few days have been an absolute blur of gatherings, birthday parties, neighborhood parties, Christmas parties, and a family wedding. Such rich time with family and friends!
Here are some quick glimpses…
My attempt at the themed cake Kellie wanted. I made the wrong kind of fondant, though. Marshmallow fondant, which tasted fine, but turned out a bit too soft. Ah well, live and learn. Leo loved it and that’s what counts in my book!
Aunt “Kessie” definitely got the prize for best gift ever! Leo absolutely adores his excavator! 
Dear friends from Colorado visited this weekend, and we got to visit over a three-hour breakfast on Saturday morning. Such a treat! Thank you Suzi and family for sharing your time with us. Love you guys (has it really been almost 20 years since we moved from Colorado?)!
Below is a quick pic from the wedding rehearsal dinner and wedding. Left is my nephew Alex Runk, our son Kurt, daughter-in-law Kellie, daughter Kelsey, and Alex’s lovely bride (and fiercely competitive game player!) Abbey Lambers Runk. Right is Joe and me at the wedding on Sunday.
While at the wedding reception, the sweet mother of the bride requested that the Alexander side of the family sing an impromptu song (we all love to sing). So we sang a familiar church hymn, The Lord Bless You and Keep You, but on the fly, mind you. No practice, so as we said before we sang, please forgive any mishaps, LOL. Thanks to Britt Burcham, my brother-in-law, for leading us. CLICK THE ICLOUD LINK TO WATCH THE VIDEO.
Finally, Joe and I have been in an amazing community group for eight plus years now, and last night was our Christmas party potluck and “naughty Santa” gift exchange, which has morphed into both funny and also very nice gifts.
I love doing life with these people…
Here’s a quick picture summary of the gifts we all went home with…
The past few days have been fun, but oy… While I loved the time with family and friends, I’m grateful that the rest of the year isn’t as fast-paced as the last few days have been. Crazy that all these events converged into one jam-packed weekend!
Now to finish getting ready for Christmas (very laid back this year, thankfully), then to dive headlong into rewrites on the book I turned in last month. I love the rewrite process, and it’s a good thing. I have much work to do! This book (title TBD) will be a Spring 2026 release.
So tell me…
Are you enjoying time with family and friends this season, too? I hope so. Are you ready for Christmas? Gifts all wrapped and under the tree? More and more, my heart turns to our forever Home during this season. And I’m keenly aware that while the holiday season is precious and wonderful in so many ways, it’s also full of aching hearts and loneliness. Especially when it’s the first year to experience an “empty chair” at the table.
So please, if you have a specific prayer request this season—someone you’re praying for, or maybe a specific situation—please share that and let’s lift those petitions together.
Much love to you, friends, and the very Merriest of Christmases!
In Christ alone, who is the greatest gift all of time!
Tammy
Tamera blogs every first and third Tuesday at Inspired by Life . . . and Fiction, a group blog she shares with a wonderful community of authors. If you'd like to join the conversation on this post, Tamera would love to see you there!