Less than Twelve Parsecs

Mommy: How do you want to fall asleep for your nap today? Mara [eyebrows furrowed in concern]: I do not want to sleep. Mommy: When Daddy finishes eating, it is nap time. You can either go on a stroller ride, or read books in bed. How do you want to fall asleep? Mara [continued look of concern]: I do not want to choose. Well, there goes that parenting strategy...

We spent our Christmas Day out near Muir Woods this year. We caught a perfect day at the Golden Gate photo spot on the way to the Woods, yet didn't seem to capture any good photos with us and the bridge in it. Still, had a great time chasing Mara around. At Muir Woods, we realized others had had the same idea, so parking was impossible. Greg had to bite the bullet and drop us off. Luckily we got on the main path right on time for their guided tour. We learned five life stories from the Redwoods: - Support your Community : redwoods "hold hands" with their neighbors through their flat root system - Stand Tall : tallest living organism. - Surround Yourself with Family : when stressed, trees spawn clones of themselves; after the mother tree dies out a "family circle" remains in its place. - Live in a Cool Place : redwoods are very choosy on where to grow: wind, fire, weather, temperatures, humidity, all have to be juuuust right. - Have Thick Skin : ...

Christmas time is filled with a bunch things in our family: seeing your loved ones, decorating a tree, making fun crafts and baking goodies, and hunting pretty holiday lights. This year we were lucky to do all of the above, having Mara's grandparents visiting us for several days. Read on to see how our holiday went, learn a great cookie recipe and a simple home-made holiday wreath, catch a glimpse at some seriously merry lighted houses and how to find them. Christmas tree! Mara had a great time decorating, and she quickly understood which ornaments were frail and should be left alone, and which ones are safe for her to take on and off - which she definitely took on as a task for the following week. Mara and Willow played fun hide-and-seek around the tree. Willow got lucky that Mara didn't fit underneath, so she would often go in that safe spot and look like a fluffy present. Christmas baking: Recipe for Sands, Romanian braided breads On the baking side, we had t...

We finally managed to write up our very first Christmas open letter, here's what's been happening in our lives over the past year. Last Christmas we received the best gift from Santa that we could have imagined: we found out on Christmas morning of 2012 that we were going to have a baby! Everything after that was just filled with happiness, and the entire year of 2013 was marked with many life changing experiences. The second wedding - the one in Romania happened in May when I was 6 months pregnant with Mara. We brought Gene and Tammy over the ocean to see my home country, we hiked to Babele (pronounced bah-bay-leh , The Old Women) and the Sphinx in the Bucegi ( boo-chaydj ) Mountains. We ran into a bear at the ethereal lake St. Ana, stopped for a night in the idyllic Bucovina and visited family. The second family-honeymoon happened in Paris with Greg's parents, just like we had our first family-honeymoon after our Florida wedding with my family in S...