Our Holidays

This year, I had an extra hard time getting into the spirit of

Christmas. My heart and my mind have

been so much on my mom and her prognosis.

Then one day, the Lord gently reminded me that my job is my family,

my husband and children. They need me, and His job

is my mom. So, with that in mind, we set out to make a

whole bunch of holiday memories with our

kids. This was their third Christmas season with us, but the first

Christmas that they were adopted. I think this

Christmas was the best one ever. I had time

to just stop, reflect, and count each

moment with my family as a blessing and a

gift from God. I've learned how finite life really is, and how

truly wonderful it is to just eat breakfast with my kids or listen to my husband as he

tells me about his day. I try every day to take time for

an extra hug or kiss, or just to take time to

enjoy the time that the Lord has given me.

Hope your Christmas and New Years were as fun as ours.

Enjoy the pictures.

Looking for the perfect Christmas tree. It can't be too big, or it won't fit in the

Living Room.

Cutting down the tree. Everyone got a chance

to chop!

Our tree, decorated! What fun.

Our first family sleep over under the Christmas tree.

We watched Polar Express, enjoyed popcorn, hot chocolate, and

giant M&M cookies.

The sleep over was Jon's idea, and boy was it fun!

Talking with Santa. My girlfriend had the great idea

of having the kids tell Santa where they would

be on Christmas Eve so that

they wouldn't get nervous that Santa wouldn't find them.

Here, K. is not only telling Santa where he'll be, but also

letting him know that he wants a $30.00 gift card.

That made even Santa laugh. He then asked K. if he

was taking us out for dinner.

D. was too nervous to talk with Santa. That photo was as close as she'd

get. It's a wonderful thing to see her shy. She used to be

the little girl that would throw chairs and

run through stores. I love

seeing her naturally sweet personality come through.

K. and Daddy cutting out K.'s first gingerbread house.

He designed his own house, made the pattern

and had his daddy help him cut the dough.

Christmas Eve at my parents house. Every year

we give the kids pajamas. That was a tradition

started by my parents that we've passed

on to our kids. The only difference, the adults get matching

pajamas! Way fun. We can't let the kids have all

the fun!

Christmas morning. D. is opening one of the "clues" to our family big gift.

A tea set.

Not a clue to the family gift. Just one of K's favorite gifts. From

Oma and Poppa, his own camera. He's taking a picture

of me while I'm taking a picture of him.

My mom, opening a "clue" to the family big gift.

A sash that says "Votes For Women". Just

another reason I adore my mom. If this had been

her only gift from us, she would have been

perfectly happy. She never even acted like a sash

was a strange gift. It just made

her laugh.

The real gift to my mom (and the rest of us). We decided to

surprise my mom with a "memory" instead of just

a gift. Something that she could look

forward to during chemo and while

she's healing. For the past year she has wanted to go

see Mary Poppins on Broadway with the kids.

Now she gets to go.

We bought tickets for our whole family, so that she can

have the experience of Broadway with the kids, and they can

have the memory of a day with her.

We can't wait to go, and neither can she!

Hope the excitement will help the healing.

My parents gave D. her very own cookbook.

It's written for kids, so that they can

cook on their own. She decided to

make us cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

Here she is putting them together.

She takes after her mom!

D.'s cinnamon rolls. They were so good. Didn't she do a great

job?

My parents Christmas Tree on New Year's Eve.

It was our first year with a white tree. It's much

prettier than I thought it would

be.

The kids made the decorations and the paper chain, and we

all decorated it on Christmas Eve after church.

Our New Year's Eve party. Every hour the kids opened

up a little gift. They started at 4pm, and opened little

gifts until midnight. Their last gifts were noise makers

and party poppers. In this picture K. is getting ready to

launch his "rocket balloons" up the stairs.

The balloons were one of his gifts.

I think the boys might have been tipping more than eggnog back.

They're both wearing underwear on their heads.

Daddy and D. watching the balloons shoot up the stairs.
Who knew that rocket balloons could be so much fun.

After we came home, we decided it was time to add a

new cat to our family. My cat of 13 years, Charlotte, died

in October. We all miss her so much, but we realized

there are other animals out there that need homes.

This is Lucy. We adopted her from

the local humane society. She was a stray.

Now she has joined our family. She's a blast.

This picture is one of her calmer moments. Currently, she enjoys

running through the house as Bailey chases

her barking. I forgot how fun

cats were.

Hope you all have a very Happy and Blessed 2009. Thanks for

all of your prayers for my mom and our family.

My mom continues to heal with each day. Her faith is amazing

and her strength and positive attitude are

truly inspiring. I don't know

what this year will hold for us and our family,

but I know without a doubt that the Lord walks with us.