Christmas 2010

I just realized that I haven’t blogged about our Christmas yet and tomorrow is New Year’s, so I’m quickly going to do that now.  We had 3 family gatherings on the 18th and 19th.  Jared made it to all 3, but I only went to 2 (the ones on my side of the family).  Here’s Blake in one of his preppy outfits.

Kiera enjoyed playing chess!

This is the only picture I got of the 2 of them together all dressed up.  It’s definitely realistic!

On the 24th, we went to a Christmas Eve service at Jared’s Mom’s church with her and her boyfriend.  Then, we came back to our house and had supper.  They got Kiera a Mr. Potato Head tent, which she was excited about.

The 25th we went to Jared’s Dad + Stepmom’s house all day.  We started off with a pancake breakfast, then reading the Bible, gifts, games, supper, and more games.

Jared got a coffee grinder and coffee beans which he had really been wanting!

I got a multiple frame picture frame (if that makes sense), a couple of Arbonne cosmetic products, a book by Karen Kingsbury, Josh Groban’s Christmas c.d., and other things I can’t think of right now.

Kiera got a keyboard which the kids both enjoyed banging playing.

Some extreme cuteness

Kiera got some clip-on hair extensions

TJ + Amanda led us in some Christmas carols

On the 26th, we spent the day at my parents’ house.  Blake got a drum.

He actually opened up some gifts with some help.

I got some more Arbonne cosmetics, 2 books that I wanted, and some other things that I also can’t think of right now.  We had a very good Christmas and we’re very blessed to have our families close by! 

Up + Down

I don't have much to say right now, except that my digestion issues have taken a turn for the worse. That's quite discouraging for me, especially since I still don't have a family doctor and have tried everything that I can think of, diet-wise. I'm planning to call a naturopath doctor tomorrow to see how quickly I can get in. I would like to get tests done so that hopefully I can either figure out what's wrong or start eliminating things. Tonight, I'm going to focus on things that make me smile, so here are a couple of videos!

…And a Little Child Will Lead Them

This past Sunday, in church, we prayed for all the sick people.  Kiera was sitting with someone else.  Her and that person knelt down to pray.  Kiera just knelt quietly and listened to the other person pray.  Once that person was done praying, Kiera took her finger and specifically placed it on their heart.  They said to Kiera, “You hear Him, don’t you?”  Kiera said, “Yes.”  I found out a couple of days later that on Sunday night, they slept without heartburn for the first time in a very long time!  WOW!  I know that wasn’t just a random thing.  I know my daughter and she doesn’t do things like that normally.  I am blown away the way God is already using Kiera in the lives of those around her! 

Yesterday, she prayed for my stomach to feel better (my digestion issues) and then right away asked, “Mommy, are you feeling all better?”  Oh to have her faith that just expects God to answer!  As an adult, I know it’s often not instant and in some cases, not the way we would want at all, but I so often pray with doubts and Kiera is reminding me to just trust God to do something!  It’s definitely an ongoing theme for me right now: faith like a child.  A lot of the time, I think I’m teaching Kiera so much, but lately, she has been teaching me without even knowing it. 

I wish you all a wonderful, joyful Christmas as you celebrate Jesus’ birth and all that he has done for us!  Luke 2:10-11 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  I pray you experience GREAT JOY this Christmas! :D

Battling the Blues

This morning, I’ve been discouraged over continuing health battles.  I’ve had digestion issues for almost 2 months now and Blake has had a cold for over 3 weeks.  I might take him to the doctor today since he’s quite congested and isn’t improving.  I need to find a family doctor for myself as well, but would prefer to just be miraculously healed instead!  I decided I need to count my blessings and change my perspective, so here they are:

541. That Jared fixed the humidifier on our furnace

542. Daddy-son time

543. Dessert that Jared brought home from the potluck he had at work

544. Funny hats

545. Clean floors (even if it’s only for a few hours)

546. When Blake raises his hands after I say, “Praise Jesus!”

547. All the different Christmas lights

548. Having “help” unloading the dishwasher

549. Cupboards that always have food in them

550. Winter clothes to bundle up with on cold days

551. French toast that I made on our anniversary

552. Christmas dresses

553. That Kiera has been more gentle with Blake lately

554. Discovering a new author who I really like

Jesus Loves Me

This past week-end, I immensely enjoyed Christmas family gatherings, one on Saturday and one yesterday. On Saturday, it was my Mom's side. We had a time of sharing prayer requests and things we are thankful for. I said, "I'm thankful that Kiera asked Jesus into her heart 2 weeks ago!" My Mom asked me to share the story, so I did, and as per usual, I got emotional sharing it. After I told the story, my Dad asked my cousin for his acoustic guitar and Kiera asked him to play "Jesus Loves Me." Kiera sung it several times times and danced in the middle of the circle while I just sat there and cried and cried, along with a few of my relatives. I was just so overwhelmed by God's love and that He has saved Kiera. Seeing her become "born again" rivaled in excitement with seeing her being born for the first time. Watching her sing + dance with abandonment, not caring what anyone else thought, just spoke to me deeply about having faith like a child. It's a song I've sung hundreds of times and a message I've heard possibly thousands of times, but the fact that Jesus loves me when I've done nothing to deserve it just moved me to tears in combination with everything else. I'm just so thankful that after 24 years of walking with Jesus, that message doesn't get old and I still need to be reminded of it. It was one of those times that I just want to ponder in my heart and not forget about. What a precious gift!

5-Year Anniversary

5 years ago, on a cold, blustery winter day, I married the man who asked my parents for permission to court me with the intention of marriage, then waited for me for 6 months while I went to England, and then made me his wife less than 9 months later.

Today, I look back

and see how tremendously blessed we’ve been to have walked together through the last 5 years.

They’ve been 5 amazing years and each one just keeps getting better!  I look forward to spending the rest of our lives together! 

Shake It, Baby!

Blake’s 1-Year Photos

Blake’s 1-year pictures got taken in 2 phases this year.  The outdoor ones were taken the day after his birthday, Nov. 7, and the studio pictures were taken this past week-end.  I can’t believe that the weather was so warm the week-end Blake was born last year and then again this year!  I did not think part of his 1-year pictures would be taken outside, so that was great!  Thank you again, Mom, for the fantastic pictures!

I love this one of the 2 of them

One of my favorites…such a serious little man!

 

12 Days of Christmas

Jared + I have been doing an Advent reading from the Bible every night this month to keep our focus on Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas. After the reading, there's a reflection part and a suggestion of something to try. The suggestion last night was to write our own version of the "12 Days of Christmas" song and write down what Jesus, our true love, has given us. Yesterday was also exactly 12 days until Christmas. I wrote out all 12 verses in my journal, but I will just share the last one with you. There are many other gifts I could have included, but these are the ones that came to my mind.

"On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me:
All that I need
His faithfulness
A family
His healing
Abounding grace
His perfect joy
His holy Word
For - give - ness
Hope for the future
Unending love
His righteousness
and everlasting life!"

That's much more exciting than a partridge in a pear tree! I want to focus on the gifts that truly matter this Christmas and the greatest gift of all, Jesus.

Anniversary Getaway

Jared + I just got back from a night away in celebration of our 5-year anniversary, which is coming up this Friday!  It was my first night away from Blake and although I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my kids, it was absolutely wonderful to get away just the 2 of us for 2 days, 1 night!  We dropped off Kiera + Blake at Jared’s Dad + step-Mom’s and Kiera got picked up later by my Mom and spent the night at my parents’ house, so they each had one kid.  When we first arrived at our destination, we went straight to IHOP for lunch.  That is one of my favorite restaurants and they have the best breakfast food EVER!  I had Cinn-a-Stack French toast (french toast with cinnamon roll filling and cream cheese icing drizzled on top), scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns for $6.99!  After lunch, we hit up our favorite clothing store, but this time the only thing I only bought there was a red shirt for $6.99.  After that, we went to our hotel.  Jared surprised me with the hotel, which I was pumped about because I love being surprised!  He kept slowing down in front of other hotels as if to turn in, then would speed up and say, “Nope, not that one.”  He ended up accidentally missing our hotel turn-off, so he had me completely thrown off by the time we got there!  He booked the top-rated hotel in the city and it’s a Marriott hotel that was built last year!  SO nice, modern, and cool!  This is the lobby with a circular front desk

Inside the curtained area (in front of the curtained area was where we ate breakfast)

All of the rooms were set at angles like this…again, so cool!

Inside our room

I really liked the vase

The toilet room was separate from the shower/vanity room

 

This mirror was super cool!  First of all, the rim of it lights up, and the circle part of the mirror is zoomed in compared to the rest of the mirror!

After I oohed and aahed over how cool-looking the hotel was, we headed to the mall.  I bought a dark gray hoodie at Aeropostale and bought a $5 necklace.

The last time I was at Victoria’s Secret, I really liked their perfumes, but didn’t buy one.  I normally buy all-natural cosmetics and things like that and then found out that their PINK line of perfumes has less chemicals than other perfumes.  I REALLY like them and had a hard time narrowing it down, but Jared helped me narrow them down from 8 to 2 and then I picked my favorite which is called “Sunny + Happy” for $15.

After some shopping, we went back to our hotel for some relax time and then went out for supper.  We have been wanting to try a certain steakhouse restaurant, so went there.  We found out it was going to be a 45-55 minute wait, which is normal for that restaurant, so I put our names on the list and then we went to Target.  We picked up a few grocery items and then went back to the restaurant half an hour later.  We still had to wait another half hour before our number was finally called!  They gave us some rolls that were fresh from the oven right away and we had looked at the menu online ahead of time, so we ordered right away.  I had a really great drink called a Strawberry Cowboy.  I ordered a steak and ribs combo which was only $15.99!  My steak was kind of dry as I had ordered it medium well and it came out well done.  The ribs were very good and the meal came with 2 sides, so I also had caesar salad + mashed potatoes, both of which were great.  I had to box up half my meal to go since there was so much food!  After supper, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the hot tub and uninterrupted conversation!  It was so relaxing!  We had a king bed, which I also love, and we both had a good night’s sleep.

This morning, we had breakfast at our hotel (I had a waffle + an apple cinnamon muffin) and then spent 20 minutes in the hot tub before going back to our room and getting packed up and ready to go at noon.  We went to 2 more stores and I bought this shirt for $15.

Then we went to Qdoba’s for a late lunch which has our favorite Mexican food!  I wasn’t overly hungry, so I had taco soup and a small taco salad which was great!  It was FREEZING outside, so this is what I looked like going from store-to-store:

Blake didn’t even recognize me at first when we got back, until I took off my hood, and then I got a smile!  I must say I am EXTREMELY thankful for heated seats in the van.  Despite the cold, we had a fantastic time away and I look forward to celebrating many, many more anniversaries!