Christmas 2013

Our Christmas was once again insane this year.  We had 8 family gatherings, 3 Christmas programs, 2 work parties, plus other events in between.  All of us were sick with something last week (Jared and the kids had fevers and I had achiness) but we managed to make it to all of the family gatherings and God worked through the Ibuprofen I was giving the kids for fevers.  We celebrated Jesus in spite of everything else that was going on, which was the most important thing.  On Christmas Day, my sister, brother-in-law and niece flew out and are leaving today, so it has been WONDERFUL to spend time with them!  Christmas always feels more special when they’re here.  I’ll back up and start at the beginning of December:

We made a gingerbread train (well, mostly I did as the kids got really distracted and Haley had a meltdown because I wouldn’t let her eat all of the candy) In the middle of December was our church Christmas program The following week, Blake had his Preschool Christmas program and Jared and I were surprised and delighted to see that Blake was Joseph :) On the 23rd, we had supper and Christmas with Jared’s Mom at our house.

On the 24th, we went to a 4:00 Christmas Eve service, then had supper and had our own family Christmas.  I tried to get some nice pictures with the kids (who wouldn’t stop moving) and these were the best ones: We bought each kid a Busy Book, which is a board book that has a big play map and 12 story characters at the back of each book that they can play with.  Kiera got Dora, Blake got Toy Story and Haley got Bubble Guppies.  Blake and Haley saw them at Wal-Mart one day and wanted to play with them, so I figured they would make good Christmas gifts.  I’m glad the kids like them!

Kiera’s front tooth was practically hanging out of her mouth but she would not let us pull it out, so we convinced her to bite into a caramel.  Success! “All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth…” We spent the afternoon and evening on the 25th at Jared’s Dad + Stepmom’s.  The kids really were excited about their Lego, in spite of their expressions in this picture. I love Kiera’s expression here…Strawberry Shortcake books! Steve + Lindsay expecting their first baby middle of February! TJ + Amanda expecting their first baby at the end of April (which you obviously can’t see in this picture)! Haley napped through the whole gift exchange time (that was the day she was sick), so she opened her gifts when she woke up. At suppertime, we discovered that Jared’s Dad had made name signs for everyone which we all really liked! I liked this little tree in the dining room This was the only picture I got of all 3 kids in their Christmas outfits dressed for a gathering on the 26th.  I love watching them with their Uncle Art. Me and my beautiful sister…one of my favorite pictures from this Christmas season. Playing with one of his new Lego sets (he got 2 bigger sets, one medium set and a small set) I caught her dimple…yay! On the 27th, we went out for supper with Art + Jenene while my Mom stayed with the kids.  That was really great!  I don’t think we’ve ever gotten to spend time just the 4 of us, so for me, that was special.

We drove in this storm on the 28th to go to my Mom’s house for Christmas.  I praise God for safe travels as we gallivanted all over the countryside this past week. Haley got a shopping cart/check-out stand from my Mom. More Lego!! Sophia got a Princess Doctor kit which makes noise. The kids got these great little suitcases that they can also use as backpacks.  They didn’t previously have their own suitcases and they saw these at Wal-Mart, and once again, I thought they would make great gifts. At the end of the night We had a gathering on the 29th and I had a lot of hip pain (no idea why) that day.  2 of my cousins laid hands on me and prayed for me and the pain immediately got way less and today it is gone!  Praise the God of miracles who displays His power and His glory!

Yesterday, we enjoyed our first day with NO PLANS since the 21st.  We stayed in our pajamas ALL DAY and it was wonderful!  I am very grateful that most of our family lives close by and we get to see them all but I’m also grateful for rest after all of the festivities.  I wish you all a wonderful New Year and I pray that we will all see many more miracles as God is working in each of our lives! :)