The Lovely Vivian - an amazingly child who will grow up to be an amazing adult! We love her!

thank you so much Marit for your lovely comments!

You know I what to frame some of my favorite Kiley photos and hang them in a really special place in my house. If I choose them before our HK trip, can you put them on a CD for me and bring them along? And again, this post makes me feel very loved - thank you :)

Beautifully written Kiley! I am glad I was there with you when you got the news of her death, but wish we had talked about her more when we had the moments together. I feel very much the same as you do - living so far from family, I always felt envious of those who lived close to my grandparents and could enjoy those quiet everyday moments. Thanks for sharing this about your grandmother - I think you look very very much like her! Hugs my friend

Thanks Kiley :) The felt isn't that great, it is kind of plasticy, not as soft as the good quality stuff I find in Norway, but it is much better than the plastic thing we had :)

So glad you feel lighter this year, and have let go of some yucky feelings. You know I am not a religious person either, but I think with Christmas we get to form family traditions, nice ones we take from our childhood or cozy new ones we create together! Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Thanks so much Candylei! Comments like that give me such encouragement! Have a look at my portfolio - www.sarahsmiles.no

You know I used to freak out a lot with my children and each time I would feel just like you described - embarrassed, sad and knowing that I could have reacted better. And when I reacted like that Cornelia always got even madder, so it was like putting fuel on the fire. So, I knew that I need to make a conscious decision to try to always control myself and try to react with kindness. I have it in my head all the time and it is like a peaceful low humming, it is weird, it is a kind of peace I can feel running through my body. I have been able to defuse so many volatile situations with this approach. And now we are working on Cornelia, to get her to react more calmly to things, especially her sometimes annoying little brother :) I know exactly what you are feeling, exactly! love you!

Hello my lovely friend, My heart goes out to you, Bruce and Vivian. I can only attempt to imagine what the loss of Miles is/was like. When you talked here about how to remember him for Vivi it made me think of my own experience when growing up (maybe I've told you this before). My father was married before (nearly 20 years to a woman I never met) and they had a son. He died in a car accident the year before we were born, he was only 18. My father rarely spoke of him, his sorrow was so palpable that it kind of scared me and I dared not ask, I didn't want to upset him. My dad always said that if we wanted to know about Bobby, we could always ask, but that was really hard and it was hard to find out what to ask about. I know you had so brutally little time with Miles, but I wonder if, for Vivi's sake, you could talk about not so much the moments you had but how about making up *not-sad* funny stories with Miles as the main character - "The adventures of Miles, the super-baby - he lives on a planet far far away but comes and whispers helpful words to her sister when she is sleeping". Some thing to make Miles part of your family without having to focus on the loss, but rather weave him in somehow through stories. Just an idea. I tell the kids stories of the "Magic fish" sometimes and they love it! And as for how to mark his birthday - (I am full of ideas today). We have a little cupcake candle holder (made of clay) we take out every birthday. Why not find a lovely, but light hearted, candle holder, maybe something that makes you laugh or smile, and just light that for breakfast and dinner. Vivi will always keep that candleholder with her and remember the symbolism. And it is easy to pack so if you travel you can take it with you. I am big into creating family stories and family traditions. Svein-Olav's family have so few stories and it always makes me a bit sad. I adore you and my heart is with you all today! Can't wait for our trip to Hanoi, so freaking cool we are making that happen!! Sarah

I love, love, love it!! You are so cute to compliment me like you did, really makes me feel loved :))! Now you have inspired me to made a runner with embroidery!! So, Thanksgiving...any chance you, Viv, Bruce and your runner can make a trip to Busan??

I love this - the last picture of them together is so lovely and such a wonderful glimpse into the cozy relationships kids sometimes have with each other. :)