Here we are once again, getting ready to say goodbye to another year, and hello to a new one. Overall, I think James had a pretty good year. Yes, he had a few bumps in the road, but that’s to be expected from him. If there is one thing he excels at, it’s keeping us on our toes.

This will probably be a relatively short post since I don’t have much to share besides Thanksgiving and Christmas.

 

Thanksgiving

 

As always, we are thankful for our friends, family and all of James’ fans. We’ve met so many wonderful people along this crazy journey with James. Some of you we’ve met in person; others we have not. But we are thankful for you all.

A special thank you goes out to Nestle Health Science for the beautiful flower arrangement you sent over.

 

 

 

Christmas

 

In mid-November, the rescue that we got Maggie from had an event where she could get her picture taken with Santa Claus in exchange for a donation. We donated some towels and dog treats. Most of the other dogs there were running around. Maggie is just laid back and took her leisurely time walking over to Santa to get her picture taken. He called her a slug because she was so slow compared to the other dogs.

 

 

A couple of weeks ago it was James’ turn to see Santa. He looks so big next to Santa, doesn’t he?

 

 

 

At school, James’ Secret Santa got him a toy game controller that makes noise and lights up.

 

 

Christmas morning was a little bit sad. We woke up and thought that Santa had forgotten about James this year. He didn’t leave any gifts under the tree. The only gifts under the tree were the ones that he got at school.

 

 

We were heartbroken. How could Santa forget about James? James wasn’t bad this year. He’s never bad. We soon realized what had happened. Stacy had to go let out a dog whose parents were out of town for the holidays. As she was backing out of the garage, she spotted the gifts.

 

 

Here’s what we think happened. Maggie has become territorial. She doesn’t like anyone except for me, Stacy, and James in “her house”. She will constantly bark—and sometimes nip—at anyone besides us in the house. She is perfectly fine outside of the house, but the second someone walks in, she doesn’t like it. So, we think Maggie didn’t let Santa in and he just dropped the gifts off at the front door. Sorry about our crazy dog Santa!

After Stacy got home from letting the dog out, we had some breakfast—waffles and eggs if you’re wondering—and opened gifts. Care to guess what James got this year? If you guessed clothes, you are correct. Lots and lots of shirts…because he doesn’t have enough already. That was sarcasm. This kid has so many shirts that he could probably go a month, maybe two, without wearing the same shirt twice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to shirts, he also got a gift basket with a teddy bear, coloring book and markers, and a blanket that says “You Are Loved”; an Amazon gift card; and a new tablet. The iPad he’s had for the past several years reached the point where it could no longer be updated and some of the apps he uses to watch videos when we’re away from home no longer worked because they couldn’t be updated. I didn’t want to shell out another $400-$500 dollars for another iPad, so I decided to try an Amazon Fire tablet instead. It was a fraction of the price of an iPad and should support all of the video apps that he uses.

 

 

 

 

Santa also left some treats for Maggie that we put in her stocking. Perhaps if he had given her one or two when he stopped by to drop off the gifts, she would have let him in.

 

 

 

 

Cheers to 2023

As this year comes to a close, we want to wish you all a happy and safe New Year, and all the best in 2023. And thanks again for all of the love and support you have given us this past year.