Christmas 2015

It's nine days into 2016 and to say that it's come in like a lion would be a total understatement.  We never would've dreamed of all that would change in just a short week...but, for now I'm going to take a moment to reflect on the end of 2015, since life continues to barrel forward.

The girls and I started our break on Monday of Christmas week.  Nathan had to still go to school on Monday and Tuesday, but on Tuesday his school had a holiday sing-along.  The girls and I were able to join him.  We even got to bring cousins Mayah and Micah who had just driven in from Colorado.  It was fun.  We love to see Nathan in his school element and they sang a great selection of songs.  It was even right before his lunch, so we stole him away to Subway for a fun lunch-and then promptly brought him back to finish his school day (which I think was mainly partying).

I enjoy watching him sing, it brings joy to my heart.

 

Nathan's first day of break was Wednesday December 23. After staying up way too late watching Minions and wrapping Christmas presents, we left this day for Papa's!  Matt had to stay and work one more day (someone's got to), but the kids and I left and got a head start on cookie baking.  It was great because two of my sisters, Brenda and Amy, were able to be there also.

This is what usually happens at Papa's.  Evelyn is pretty glued to him.

Christmas Eve we traditionally meet with the Widman family.  These are my aunts, uncles, and cousins on my dad's side.  It's the only time of year we get to see many of these people.  It's always a good time, and even our kids look forward to seeing their second cousins...even if they can't remember their names!

Quite a few kids were missing this year, but here's the bunch that was present!

For several years, we've been meeting in the American Legion hall in De Smet.  It works well and now it just seems normal.

The second cousins draw names and do a gift exchange.  Always a highlight!

 

It's hard to go wrong with babies and Ninja Turtles!

In years past, the adults have done a white elephant exchange.  This year, Aunt Val (love her) started a bingo game.  There were even prizes available, so of course the kids loved it.  Perhaps it will be a new tradition!

 

Mainly though we play, run around and chit-chat...

Fast friends are made over Ninja Turtle love.

 (these are three great men)

 Barrett, with his grandpa, is currently the youngest member of the family!

Following our time with extended family, we attended church and then drove back to Papa's house.

I tried to get a photo of the full moon, but was limited by my lens and photographic skills.  It was super bright.  I guess there won't be another full moon on Christmas until 2034!

We ate appetizers and ham sandwiches for dinner.  Then it was time for jammies and presents.  It's always a full house!

 

It's hard to tell what it is, but Matt got his phone charger returned (from Amy) as a Christmas present!

 

The girls were all excited to get Calico Critters.  I believe Addie got the kangaroo family.

 

Nathan was very excited to get both Rush Zone (a football game he's been wanting) and a Pacman plug and play game.  He even later referred to it as a Christmas miracle that he got everything he wanted!

 

Addie got a knitting machine from her cousin.  She loved it, and Matt loved rolling the yarn into a ball all.night.long.

 

Here's the knitting machine getting ready for action...

 

and leg warmers!

 (made 90% by the efforts of Matt, who we may now have to refer to as "The Knitting Machine")

 

Christmas morning, we opened (more) presents, feasted on a turkey dinner, then cleaned-up and drove back to our home.  We had our family Christmas that night.  It was very low key.  We ate some leftovers from lunch, drove around and looked at lights for a very short time because the weather was getting bad, then came home for yet another gift exchange.

This year, for the first time the kids drew names for each other.  The rule was they had to pick out and buy the gift by on their own.  Given budget restraints of certain kids, we made the limit $5.  After shopping with the girls one day I wanted to up it and just help them a little with the extra cost, but I decided to stick to my guns! I'm glad I did.  Everyone put thought into their gifts and really enjoyed giving. (Yay, because that was the point!)

Nathan and Addie ended up drawing each other's names.

Nathan got Addie some headphones, which she loved!

(Matt took Nathan shopping, and they did spend more than $5.  Slight miscommunication, but we figured it's okay because Nathan has stashes of cash).

Addie picked out a Lego Mixel for Nathan.  She chose this one because it was purple, but it turned out he said this is the one he wanted!

 

 Evelyn and Ella had each other's names.

Evelyn picked out a hair bow and a Little Pet Shop for Ella.

 

Ella picked out some dress-up shoes for Evelyn.  They're Evelyn's favorite princess, Anna from Frozen.

 

 I was glad the gift exchange went so well, we'll definitely do it again!

Matt and I also got each of the kids a small gift.  We don't get them a lot because they get so much from others.  For example, we got Ella the robe she is wearing.  

Matt and I don't typically exchange gifts.  This year I got him a gift card to go see the new Star Wars movie with a friend, and I was expecting nothing in return.

Instead he surprised me and got me a new camera lens!  I've been wanting a better portrait lens for a long time, but wouldn't ever justify the money to buy one for myself.

I was so excited! I love that now I can finally get that bokeh I've been craving!  I did lots of little test shots changing focal points and then showing the kids what the image looked like.  

This was Nathan's favorite.

(he's behind a family of sea otters :)

In addtion the kids opened up gifts from Matt's mom.  (I feel like I just keep talking about gifts)  Nathan was super excited to get a new game for his 3DS.  It was a remix of original Nintendo games.

Matt perhaps liked the game a little too.

I can't remember what conversation was taking place here, I just remember it was funny.

 

 (I obviously enjoyed playing with my lens...can't wait to take it outside!)

The girls got some LPS from Grammy.

 

The following day was low key.  We did enjoy a Skype call with Grammy and Grandpa Joe.  You can see Addie in the background jamming out with her headphones.

 

We cancelled travel plans to Minnesota because of the weather and instead spent the weekend snuggled in.  

 

We still have yet to celebrate Christmas with Matt's family.  The weather has not cooperated well, but we'll get there!

The Christmas celebrations we have enjoyed have been wonderful.  We have a great family and much to be thankful for!

Baby, Write This Down.

2015 is here and ten days strong!  

New Year's Day seems like a long time ago.  Since then Nathan has returned to school (except when interrupted by the weather), the girls are back in the swing of school, Matt is working five days a week again (sigh), Evelyn is being cute (and rascally), and I finally got caught up on the laundry.  We also spent this week at the hospital visiting my dad who had knee replacement surgery.  Thankfully things went very well and he's now at my sister's recovering and moving around.

 Like most, I like to take this time of year to reflect and make some goals for moving forward.  December was kind of a "loose"month (nothing was written down on the budget and much sugar was consumed), so it feels good to get back into normal routine.

For my sake I thought I would write down some of my 2015 goals.  There's nothing big or major (yet), and it's definitely not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will help me to be successful!

For visual interest, I thought I would include photos of a New Year's Day tradition.  Besides taking down the Christmas decorations, we also enjoy decorating a gingerbread house.  I just buy a kit at the store.  They're simple, and if you wait until after Christmas they're 50% off.  Ella and Adeline did 90% of the decorating this year, though I did help with a lot of the frosting.  The neighbor boy came over as we were beginning, and Nathan chose to go play at his house instead.

Back to goals...

1.  Each month read one classic book and one non-fiction book.  I think I make this goal every year.  I really enjoy reading, I just need to make it a priority and schedule time to do so.  I've started so far with Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (my first time), and The Gospel by Ray Ortlund Jr. This second one our church gifted to every family in the congregation, so I would've read it anyway.  I already know what I want to read for the next couple of months...

2.  Complete 14 weeks of real food "mini-pledges".   We've been slowly changing many things about how we eat, and so honestly most of these are (thankfully) no longer a big challenge (week #3 and week #12 will require some effort though).  There are many different levels of eating real food. I need balance or my mind and time become consumed with food.  We try to eat and live simply.  This is an easy baby steps way to begin if you're interested. 

3.  Run a 5K in sub 26:00.  I just got in my first 2 miles today.  I don't plan on running my first 5k until Mother's day weekend, but this was my goal last year and I missed it by a minute and a half.  I forgot about the hill factor.  To some this is slow, to some it may sound fast, for me this will require pushing myself.

I would also like to add run a half-marathon here.  This is something I say every year and have never done.  Perhaps I just need to sign up and do it (and maybe find a running buddy!).

 Finished!

4.  As a family, participate in Life 96.5's Hands & Feet opportunity and/or our church's ministry opportunity each month.  These are typically simple ways to bless others.  I like that our children can be involved.  I think it will be a good chance for them to give, serve, and think of others.

5.  Improve this house, in a wise, meaningful way.  This year I would like to concentrate on the kitchen, garage, and basement as far as big projects go.  (I cannot confirm at this time if Matt is on the same page).  I'm also making it a January mission to get things up on the walls.  I don't believe in just throwing up meaningless things to take up space.  However, we've lived here for over two years and it's time to invest some time and money to make things a little more homey, especially in the living room and bedrooms.  (I don't even want to mention the half torn-down wallpaper in our bedroom.)

Evs did help decorate some as well.  The house was together for an afternoon....that evening they ate all the candy!

6.  Be hospitable.  We'd like to invite more friends and family into our home.  I'm also including schedule dates (and ladies' nights) into this category!

I feel like six is a good number to start with!  These are simple I know...hardly earth-shattering, but perhaps a good beginning.

Happy New Year...or Christus Victor

Happy New Year...

It's 9:00 a.m. here and no one else is awake.  The kids were up late to celebrate New Year's...we did our midnight at 9:00 p.m. with some of our dearest friends, but it was still after 10:00 before all were in bed.

I am thinking about this new year and how it isn't so happy for many I know.  And in that case, Christmas wasn't so merry either.  The world is full of pain, and yet so often we seem to eat, drink, and be merry.  We pull up our boot straps, put on a happy face, and pretend like the sun is shining.

 

 

When my mom passed away, it was a loss of innocence for me.  Before that the world actually seemed like an okay place to live.  Now I understand what it truly means to hurt in a heart being pulled out your chest, can't breathe, want to put your fist through a wall kind of way.

However, having a year and a half to walk this journey, I believe I can say I'm through the darkest part.  I say that with trepidation however, knowing that there are so many dear to me that I can't bear the thought of losing.   Relationships are complicated like that.  Eventually they will all end (either by choice or death), but we can't live without them.  

For a while it seemed like "nobody gets close, nobody gets hurt" may be  the wisest way to live.  But, God couldn't let me stay there.  He's working on me...He's showing me His love, and He is patient and kind.  He's letting me drink a small taste of the "wages of sin", so that my cup can overflow with His love and grace.  He's revealing to me how amazing it is that His son, the man of sorrows, died on the cross for wretched, sinful me.  God is no stranger to grief, and I am never alone.

So, where to go from here?  My motto this past year has been "Jesus is Victor."  It is no small statement.  God has been teaching me bit by bit, and I will never fully understand this side of Heaven, but this truth trumps every circumstance.  So, I move humbly forward in thanks and praise to God.  My faith was shaken, but the strands that remain are genuine and worth far more than the list of answers I previously had.

2015 is an open book.  I don't know what it will hold, I don't know if it will be happy or not.  But, I do know (and trust) Him who holds all things together.  

Thanks be to God. 

(And if you read through all this, thank you for putting up with my scattered, grammatically incorrect thoughts...it is truly embarrassing to me to put personal thoughts out there, and yet here I am.)