And so at last we come to the end of Project 365. Fifty-two weeks of diligently documenting our life through photos. I have more than one week's worth of photos in this post because a lot happens between Dec. 23 and January 1st.


First, there are last minute Christmas projects to finish, like this stocking that Laurel made for our dog.


And then, of course, there is Christmas Eve ...


After an early church service on Christmas Eve, we come home to abundant appetizers and a night of traditions:



A little storytelling...



My mother's famous cranberry punch...



My father reads Twas the Night Before Christmas,



And Randy reads from the Gospel of Luke.



And a nice new addition to our very traditional night: Laurel plays "Silent Night" on her our flute.



How is it that the  tree invariably looks the most beautiful on Christmas Eve?


And then, of course, there is Christmas Day itself. After opening stockings, we have a big breakfast and then get down to business.


Having my parents always with us on Christmas these past 7 years is a joy so deep I can't properly express it. I cherish these years with them.



The racetrack from my parents to Duncan was probably the biggest hit with the kids...



And the motorized marbleworks we got for Duncan turned out to be so  complicated that it took my nephew, Owen, and Laurel an hour to put together.



After gifts, a feast, and naps on the couch, we transition to Duncan's birthday. This child's smile could bring joy to even the hardest heart.


And the day after Christmas, we celebrate Randy's birthday...


This year we took one more trip to Dollywood for his birthday,



And then came home for presents and the other half of Duncan's birthday cake.



We had a few days to recuperate from all this hard work before heading down to Charlotte, NC, to be with Randy's family for New Year's. And in Charlotte we nearly collapsed from the strain of the arduous activities:


playing pool...



reading by the fire,



doing crossword puzzles,



playing computer games,



mindlessly surfing the internet,



and eating Greg's amazing culinary delights. Too bad I don't have any photos of us all in the hot tub on the deck overlooking the golf course at sunset. Yup. It was a hard weekend.



We did get out and exercise once, at the Whitewater Olympic Training Center. But mostly on that day we just watched other people doing strenuous things, like trying to scale the climbing walls.




And so, the year comes to an end and with it my dedication to taking 365 photos. This project has been an amazing experience. I have always enjoyed taking photos, but taking purposeful photos of everyday life this past year has been completely different than focusing on "event" photos. But it's also been time-consuming to make this weekly post. Very, very time consuming. And so, coming up in 2008, I'm going to switch to Project 52. My goal is to select one photo each week that sums up our week. That may be more of a challenge than I'm bargaining for, but I am loath to part with the photojourney entirely. And so I'd better get that camera out again....