Merry Christmas!!

Here we are Christmas afternoon - I can't believe it's already come and half-way gone already! The boys are each enjoying their gifts - Josh on his PSP with a new game and Ian and Brian are working on Ian's new Lego Star Wars X-Wing. Ellie is napping although I may hear her waking up as I type. It has truly been a wonderful couple of days. Brian has taken the week to be off and accomplish some last minute Christmas stuff as well as just enjoy some down-time with the family.
Monday both he and I went shopping (separately) in the morning but had the afternoon to relax and do some gift wrapping. That night we had some friends over for dinner and enjoyed a couple of hours to get to know them a little better. Josh, however, was out having a movie marathon with friends! Tuesday he and Josh went had had some much needed "guy time" while I did some cooking and other activities. That evening we enjoyed a family dinner all together at the table - with the busy season it's been a while since that has happened and it was nice. We then were enjoying a family game of Rummikub when the doorbell rang and it was a group of carolers - all the Commanders and their spouses! What a lovely surprise!
Christmas Eve I spent some time in the kitchen and then realized I needed a couple of last-minute ingredients so we headed into town a little early for our Christmas Eve service so I could stop by the store before the service. What that meant for our family was having to get ready for church at 3pm! Not quite used to that! We had to wake Ellie up from her nap and although I had a beautiful Christmas dress ready for her to put on because we woke her up she was in no mood to change so we left her in the outfit she was wearing (thankfully it was a Christmas-y outfit). After a stop at Target we realized we were pretty early for church so Brian actually offered to stop and get us all coffee/cocoa - something that's never his suggestion! So, we went through the drive-thru at Cariboo Coffee and then headed to church. It was a lovely service but, unfortunately, it wasn't the candlelight service and we really enjoy that service but it was still nice. Once the service was over we headed home to some heavy appetizers - something we did last year on Christmas Eve and really liked. We'd invited some folks over but most had plans or just wanted to be home (which we can totally understand). We did end up with Josh's friend Chris and his mom (who works for Brian) and then a stop-by visitor, Colleen, who dropped by with gifts for us. Chris and Colleen are both in Josh's Calculus study group that meets in our home every Sunday afternoon and usually concludes with me feeding them all dinner. There's more of a story with that that I'll have to share another time or this post will be longer then it already looks to be! Anyway, it was kinda fun to have the group here and they all started playing games. It was a lovely way to spend the evening. Oh, our food was cheese fondue with bread and green apples, sweet and sour meatball, port-wine cheese with wheat thins and Christmas "wreaths" (similar to Rice-krispy treats but made from corn flakes and dyed green).
This morning the boys were happy to see that Santa had, indeed, come to visit and I don't think they were disappointed! Josh got a laptop, Ian got a Star Wars Xwing (mentioned earlier), Clone Trooper gun (nerf type) and a light up/sound purple light saber (we have termed this Ian's Star Wars Christmas), and Ellie got a travel magna doodle, lady bug tea set, cloth manger scene, and a cute dinnerware set she can eat on/with. They immediately noticed, though, that their stockings were not hanging with care! Turns out Santa sent them on a scavenger hunt to find them! I'll post later the hints and all that he left. It was a fun twist on our Christmas morning. We then opened our stockings, gifts from friends and family (THANK YOU EVERYONE!), and then gifts from each other. Brian's big/little present - I tricked him by telling him it was just a "little" something - was an Ipod Nano. I got some clothes (I wanted) and cool socks and pretty earrings. Plus, a hair straightener I wanted. So, it's been a wonderful Christmas for all of us! I hope it has been for you as well! I hope through all the gifts, food and good times together you take a moment to remember the baby born in Bethelem who gives us a reason for this season as well as hope for all year long! Merry Christmas to you All!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

What I Have Done

My friend, Amy, posted this on her blog, and since I have NOTHING (HA!HA!) else to be doing right now, I thought I'd participate!! I highlighted the things I HAVE DONE in Green. If I counted right, I have done 48 of these things!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (camping as a kid)
3. Played in a band (does band in high school count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (pretty sure I watched one in Columbus, MS)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (I'm counting this because my mom and I sang a duet in church when I was little and I don't think anyone really wants to hear me sing solo!!!!)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (in Singapore while safe in my house)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (going to East Berlin!!)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I'm pretty sure so I'm counting it!)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (I'm counting the ones on the Wii)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (my ancestors lived in Savannah, GA, and I was born there!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (I've climbed the rock wall at the gym, sort of)
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (I'm pretty sure I did as a kid but I won't count it just in case)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (I used to love makind mud pies as a kid)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (No, but married to someone who has!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (Stampin' Up! counts, I'm pretty sure)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (more than I'd care to)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (I sprained my ankle bad enough to be in a half cast for a while)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (I'm counting going and rescuing Brian from a storm)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (I'm pretty sure yes but because I can't think of who, I won't count it)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Our North Dakota Weekend

Well, the cold has definitely come to us here in North Dakota and to top it all off, we were expecting the worst blizzard they'd seen in 10 years starting Saturday. And, wouldn't you know we had a ton of things going on Saturday! But let me back up a minute to Thursday and I'll go from there (and include pictures as I go)!

Brian and I were able to attend Josh's performance on Thursday thanks to a friend volunteering to come watch Ian and Ellie for us. We really enjoyed the show and seeing him get to be the lead! All the pictures I tried to take of just him came out blurry but this one of all of them during the play turned out okay - he's got a pretty serious face going!

Friday night Brian and I went to his squadron Christmas party. It was well done and we had a good time.

Here's the run-down of our Saturday: Josh had the ACT at 8am, Ian had dress rehearsals for the church's children's Christmas musical at 10am and hockey at 12:15pm. Josh then had the final performance of his play that evening at 7:30pm. We were able to accomplish everything on Saturday plus finally get a tree before heading home that afternoon! The wind was definitely starting to pick up but the roads were still fine. I wasn't crazy about Josh still having his performance that evening and Brian taking him but it worked out okay and they made it home fine. (In the picture Ian's the one on the left in the white helmet.)

In my mind, a blizzard is getting dumped on with a bunch of snow and not being able to go anywhere. It turns out that a blizzard must just mean the roads are not able to be traveled on due to visibility. Because it's so flat out here and the wind is so fierce, it kicks up all the snow that is on the ground and blows it around so hard that you aren't able to see in front of you. That's how Sunday was. We were in road condition red which meant we were only able to be on the roads if we had to be at work or something like that. So, we stayed in our jammies all day, decorated the tree we'd gotten, finished decorating our ginger bread house, watched movies, did our advent devotional and had a nice quiet day at home. What got canceled Sunday due to the weather was Ian's first piano recital and his Christmas musical at church. The musical is rescheduled to this Sunday but I don't know yet if his recital is being rescheduled.

Here's a picture of our house today and you can see the snow drifts in front of our windows! The sun's out and it's simply beautiful - even if the wind chill is supposed to be near -40 degrees!!!

Great White North

Well, I was beginning to think the saying "Great White North" was just a misnomer - until today! Don't get me wrong, it's been cold but today we are finally getting some of the white stuff to go with it. I took this picture about an hour ago (it's currently 3:50 central):
This I just took so you can see it's piling up quickly!

Ellie and Santa

Yesterday the Community Activity Center had a tree lighting event where they had snacks, cider, the "official" tree lighting, kids singing carols, Santa, etc. Well, we arrived a little early so there wasn't much of a crowd and we were able to get Ellie's picture with Santa. I was surprised because Ellie actually held out her hands and went to him. Once she was in his lap, though, she wouldn't even look at him! Here are a couple of pictures. I remember when Ian was this age - he cried when I put him in Santa's lap so she did a great job!

Thanksgiving

I can't believe another Thanksgiving has come and gone already and we're already into December! Even though I was trying to be "prepared" for the season, I'm feeling as though I'm already behind and stressed out!!!! Part of the stress is not having renters for our house in VA yet so that's an expense we weren't ready for. We are hopeful and know that God has a plan and we're trying to be patient and see what that plan is.

As for our Thanksgiving... it was quite nice. We left last Wednesday and went to Brian's cousin's (Deborah) house in Wisconsin. I've never been to Wisconsin so that's another state I can cross of my "been to" list! We arrived there around 8:20pm and let the kids run amuck for a little while then tried to put Ellie down but after an hour and a half nap in the car before we arrived she, apparently, wasn't ready for bed. She ended up staying up with us until we went to bed (at least she was being cute during that time and not screaming) around midnight and since she was staying in our room she went on to sleep when we did and slept in until about 7:30am (which is kind of early for her) but, thankfully, napped well on Thanksgiving. We got up on Thanksgiving and had a yummy breakfast made by JJ (Deborah's husband). Then, we watched the parade and relaxed for a bit and the boys went with JJ to register some deer he'd gotten over the weekend. Deborah and JJ live on 120 acres and it's beautiful! He hunts right out his back door!! Brian's uncle Steve (Deborah's dad) and Judy arrived around 12:30 and we had a nice afternoon while the final preparations were done on dinner. We had 2 wild turkeys JJ got, a "fresh" ham (not cured or anything - straight from the pig), some stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn casserole, bread, zucchini bread (made by me and it's Deborah's and Brian's grandmother's recipe), broccoli and carrots and some home-made cranberry sauce. It was all quite delicious and we were all sufficiently stuffed. After a nice dinner we decided we should go on a little walk to make room for dessert. Then, we came back and had a choice between pumpkin pie, banana cream pie or apple pie a la mode - YUM!!!

Friday we got up and prepared to head back into the "cities". We left JJ and Deborah's around noon and got to the Mall of America (after a stop at Ikea) around 2pm and had a light lunch knowing we were planning to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I had the great idea to get Ellie a smoothie (I make them for her and she loves them) since she wouldn't eat much lunch and I had them add a protein booster since she doesn't eat a lot of meat. Well, that was a mistake! After about 10 minutes she threw it all back up and it just kept coming. I bought her a new shirt after I thought it was over, got her changed and we were looking around again when it all started back up. So, I had to buy her another whole outfit!! (Thank goodness we were at the mall, right?!) It turns out the "protein booster" is made from milk!!! It just confirms for us once again that she is allergic to dairy!!! And, on her face where some of the throw up got she broke out!! It's really frustrating - especially since she doesn't eat much!!

Anyway, we ended up having a lovely dinner that evening at the Cheesecake Factory then called it a night. The next morning we went to Steve and Judy's for a lovely brunch then headed out to look at a couple of colleges for Josh - Northwestern University and Bethel - both Christian colleges. The Northwestern campus, although small, is quite lovely nestled between two lakes. We just realize that it's hard to make a decision about schools when you've only seen a couple and thought it a good idea to see some around here. This picture of Josh is at Northwestern on a bridge that connects to a little island chapel on campus - very picturesque even in winter!!

That evening we had dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant Steve and Judy recommended then headed back to the hotel. We got up Sunday morning and made one last trip to the Mall then headed home! Oh, I should mention that we woke up that morning to an inch and a half of snow! It was beautiful but we were glad to give it a couple of hourse before we got out on it. We arrived back here last night and there's no snow. Now, to get the fall decorations completely put away and get out the Christmas ones!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving - giving thanks for all of your blessings, we have so many to be thankful for!