Live in the moment!

Merry Christmas to ALL and to all a Happy New Year!

 The family tradition of peacefully gathering together all in the same room to await Santa, quickly...and traditionally turns into a piling fest! Several rounds of You better watch out...Santa comes tonight, are sung before peaceful exhausted sleep takes over.

The anticipation of the holidays are always such a highlight for me, often more than the day itself.  Once again my belief in trying to live in the moment is strengthened by the holiday season.   Last week before Christmas Davis' labs dropped to a level lower than he has had in a long time, and one that has an impact on all of us.  After four long days of anticipating which direction the labs would go, both with drastically different repercussions, luckily they increased slightly.  Now four days later, once again the labs increase, this time almost doubling back up to were he has been the past month.

So with emergency information in hand(or pocket), and helmet on head, he makes the most of an invitation to go skiing.  It is a delicate balance from a mom's perspective of wanting to keep him under my wing or allowing him to fly on his own amazingly strong wings. I have never seen such strength to fight through the odds and low energy to be a regular kid.  It is because of this and the experience of being in that bubble and keeping him under my wing that I welcome any opportunity for him to enjoy the moment.  I still have to take a moment to breathe whenever I release him to his own power.  After my self-admitted, quite long, overdone explanation and instructions before I left him to go skiing today, I sat in the car as I try to determine what the welling of tears is all about this time.  I have to let the uncertainty go and place him under the wing of faith yet again.  So after a moment...or two of trying to decide if I should just take him home...a feeling of comfort...and I drive away.  The frosty air is beautiful so early in the morning.  Labs once again dropped off, a quick stop for a milk steamer, and a quiet drive home by myself...winter and life don't seem so harsh...for the moment!

Thanks to some good friends, we had a once in a lifetime moment of holding feeding and playing with White Bengal Tigers over the holidays.

         Nothing like cuddling with a baby tiger named Athena and wrestling with a strong Titan.

Even after a few scratches from willing play, Ben is still making plans for when we own our very own tigers someday!

We are grateful for our strong finish to 2010 and wish for you, health and happiness in 2011!  

May your new year be full of many "MOMENTS!"

With love, The Cox Family