Do you remember baking cookies?

Do you remember all of the cookies we baked when living in the green house in Lancaster?

We used to make sugar cookies from scratch. You would help me roll out the dough, press the cookie cutter into the dough, sprinkle flour around the dough so it would roll and cut easily, and then putting sprinkles on the frosted cookies after they came out of the oven!

For each season, we made different kinds of cookies. I always like to make cookies for fall/football opener, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter.

All of your clothes, your hair, your face, and your hands would be absolutely covered in flour and frosting and sprinkles when we were all done, so I always had you take a bath afterward! Then when you got all clean, you'd get to enjoyed the warm, freshly frosted and decorated cookies!

Christmas photos through the years

Christmas 2011

I am very sad that we do not get to spend Christmas together this year. We've had lots of fun Christmases together through the years, and I've included some photos of them (The link takes you to the 2011 photos).

We always started our holiday season by putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house on Thanksgiving day. You always liked to help with that, especially putting the ornaments on the tree. Once the tree was all finished and the lights turned on, you'd stare at it in awe of its prettiness.

We also went to lots of different places to celebrate the holidays. Among them was Disneyland, of course, but in 2011 we also did Legoland a couple of times. Legoland was neat because it created a a special snowy area to play in - and we's go into it wearing shorts because the temperature was 72 degrees in San Diego!

I love you and miss you very much - Merry Christmas, Kieran!

My email sent to you on Nov. 24, 2012

Here is the email I sent on Nov. 24, 2012, just in case you do not receive it:

Hi Kieran,

Hope all is going well for you. I miss and love you very much.

I’m glad to hear you had such a fun week! Sky Zone sounds like a good time, especially with all of your friends were there. What did you get Milo for a birthday present?

I have not seen “Penguins of Madagascar III” yet, though I remember us watching the previews for it when we went to the movie theaters in Lancaster. Was the penguin Ringo in the movie? What was your favorite part of the film?

A black lab sounds like a great dog to play with, especially fetch. Your Uncle Chris has a black cocker spaniel that always brings me a small football to me to throw. Though she chases after the football and gets it, she doesn’t always bring it back to me – sometimes she runs back to me and looks up at me wondering why I’m not throwing it again for her to chase! Cocker spaniels don’t have a reputation for being the brightest dogs in the world.

Did you have turkey for Thanksgiving? I did. I also had mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie (well, two pieces of pumpkin pie). I also read a really great book called “Mousekin’s Thanksgiving,” by Edna Miller. The story is all about how a wild turnkey helps a little mouse and all of his friends find something to eat. That’s because a mysterious creature has eaten of the mouse’s food that he stored for winter!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is rapidly approaching. Have you made a list of presents you might like for Christmas?

That is all for now. I miss you!

Love,

Dad

Happy Thanksgiving, Kieran!

Happy Thanksgiving, Kieran! I hope you're enjoying the holiday with a big turkey dinner.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful holiday in our house when we were together. We usually spent the morning putting up and decorating the Christmas tree. You always loved to help. Usually the Disney parade and then the football game played on the television in the background.

One year you discovered a bunch of little snowmen ornaments that we had for a small Christmas tree that we no longer out up. You started to play with them, and as they didn't have any hooks on them, I just let you keep them in your toy box.

The highlight always was when tuned on the Christmas tree lights. You always were so impressed by them and would gaze in awe at them forever.

We also always went out to eat for Thanksgiving dinner. Making a meal for just us - though I did it one year - was just too much work with a lot of wasted food.

I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with you again in the years ahead!