Winter Light

One of my favorite things is having people over, especially when I get to set a nice table.  My Shelter friends are always good candidates to set a table for, and I was in a San Francisco frame of mind when we had lunch the day after I got back.  The watercolor on the table is something I found at my grandparents' house, so it really belongs to my dad and Tricia, but it was the perfect centerpiece for how I was feeling.  I don't even remember what we ate, but I had fun pulling out some of my Chinese things to give the table a bit of the Asian flair that San Francisco has always had.

Like I said, we came home to snow, and lots of it.  I love a white winter, and from the looks of it, so do the kids.  Regretfully, I was heading out to do some necessary thing instead of playing in the snow with these bunnies.  As I left, their faces were absolutely bathed in gold, accentuating the joy that was emanating from within their frosty little selves.  Tziporah and Rolayne are as delightful as a woolen hat in winter and as pure as a fresh snow on Christmas morning.

Still, four years later, I marvel that Tziporah came to our family.  There were signs that she was coming.  I'm sure I've mentioned them.  When we set out on the journey to have a 6th child, I secretly believed it would be twins.  Twice, I had felt the presence of two children.  When I had the ultrasound that indicated one baby with Ptolemy, my immediate thought was, "I'm going to have to do this again in two years."  Not that I thought it would be possible.  I was 38 and it had taken some doing to get Ptolemy!

Ruby reminded us last night that right around the time I had Ptolemy, she had a dream where there were two babies in two cribs.  She thought, "Oh no, Dad doesn't know there are two!  She took the girl and hid her.  Isn't that funny?  Seeing these two together is always a reminder that heavenly plans are swirling around us all the time, even if we are as unaware of it as we are of the December snow that falls softly while we sleep.  There's no doubt that these two winter babies are right where they belong.