Merry Christmas!

Christmas does not, in fact, come but once a year. At least, not this year. Christmas with the Lammers family came mid-January. And I was SO excited for one particular gift for Xander. It was a train table that I bought for him used. I had told mom in the months before Christmas that I wanted to get him one, but that I wasn't real crazy about the paintings on the table tops of several that I'd seen, but it seemed a shame for it to be plain and boring. . . her solution: ask Tara to paint something for him. (Tara is Uncle Mason's girlfriend...) Brilliant!

So, she kindly agreed to take on the task and I anxiously, anxiously awaited our second, no, third Christmas. . .

The evening the family arrived we unwrapped (unveiled) her work, plopped the panels into the table, set up the display and eagerly anticipated the kids' coming out to the living room the following (fake Christmas) morning.

The close up pictures show you some of the amazing detail work that Tara did - I am almost teary eyed every time I look at it, it's just so phenomenal. Each time you look at the table you are likely to notice something new, a local landmark, an animal, a mountain range, a big X in the alphabet. . . a landing strip. . . anyway, you get the idea.

I took a couple so you could see some of what I mean, but I should devote some more time to more and better pics. Needless to say, the whole family has really enjoyed the train table, which is made so much more special by Tara's incredible talent. When the kids have long outgrown this piece of furniture, the art will remain a special family heirloom. Thank you, Tara!!

(you can't necessarily see from this pic, unless you click it for a closeup, but she has marked Paxton, and Omaha on the map, and then drawn the dotted line down to Bonita Springs, Florida, where Aunt Brett is soaking in the sun as we count down the days to spring. . .

there are many good reasons to have this guy as a dad. one of them, is that he will use your track to build a ramp for your trains. pretty sweet.