Month of December in Pictures

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

WAAAY Behind!

Wow - where did this past week go?  I am really at a loss as my summer really hasn't begun and yet it is going by so fast.  Time, please slow down!

We have had a crazy week.  Here is a quick recap:

*Spent Memorial Day weekend at my sister's.  My nephew Andrew graduated from high school.
*Grandma Lyn from Georgia flew in for Andrew's graduation and to visit.  Loved seeing her!  
*Huge storm which caused us to be out of power for 24 hours (Monday late evening to Tuesday evening)
*Scrambled last minute finding a solution for my kids for yesterday and today.  Daycare lost power too so they had to close.  Thankfully our daycare runs two facilities and the other one had space for my two girls.  What a relief.  It is nice to know they are safe but hard to leave them especially Makenna has she clung to me screaming and crying both days.  Breaks this momma's heart.  Maya had a friend there today so she was super happy.  Hard two days.
*Watching the finales of Dancing With the Stars and American Idol.  I know I am the minority when I say I would have liked to have seen Hailey win.  I'm not much of a country fan.
*Battling a shoulder/neck injury which caused me not to be able to workout.  Hard to do anything really.  Thankfully I am feeling so much better and am getting a much needed massage tonight after work.

What have all of you been up to?  I am anxious to get updated on all the blogs.  Alicia, hope you are safe with all the flooding you are having!  We have been thinking of you.

Here is a picture of myself with my nephew Andrew.  He is moving in a few months to attend school in my town.  I am very excited to have him here (and hope he will watch my girls once in awhile so Dave and I can go out!).

Favorite Pictures from Christmas

Since Dave will be taking blogging about his trip to Ethiopia this week, I thought I'd share a few favorite Christmas pictures.  I actually didn't take too many on my camera as I found my sister's fancy camera way more fun :)  Here are some favorites (raw version without editing).

My sister and I accident wore identical color outfits.

New family tradition thanks to HGTV, a photo of the girls (and me)

coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. 

Santa brought Maya her TinkerBell

Makenna finally awake to open some gifts

Santa was good to the girls this year! 

Makenna Update

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you are all having a wonderful day!

I wanted to give you a quick update on Makenna.  From my previous post, Makenna had been admitted to the hospital last Monday for an infection in her leg.  On Thursday night we spoke with the "bone" doctor who said everything is looking good to him and that he is giving us a green light to go home on Friday (yesterday).  Obviously it is the news I wanted to hear.

Fast forward to Friday morning...the hospital peds doctor came to visit Makenna and said he wanted to make a call to the infectious disease doctor from another hospital to talk over Makenna's case.  He did and told me we would have to stay through the weekend.  Um no.  Not going to happen.  I expressed my concerns and opinions which made the doctor have to think (yep he told me he had to think).  Well he left the room, checked a few more things, and came back to tell me the original plan would stay in place which meant we could go home!!!!  As you can imagine, I was so relieved. 

We got home shy of 2pm yesterday in time for Makenna to take a nap, me to take a hot shower, and all of us to get ready for church. God is good!  I am so happy Makenna is home and can celebrate her first Christmas at home with family.

Thank you for all of your prayers.  We are not out the woods yet and have a few follow up appointments but I feel like we are on the right road for recovery. 

P.S.  Thank you to Aunt Cherrie for the beautiful dresses!

10 Things About Us That Sums Up Our 2010

1. We became a family of 4 as we welcomed home Makenna in January
2. Maya turned 3 and Makenna turned 1
3. We got to see lots of family over the summer and got to attend the ND State Fair
4. Attended the EKC picnic and saw many of our travel mates from 2007
5. Bought a new car that has room for the kids, dogs, and our stuff
6. Numerous walks around our awesome neighborhood
7. Lots of fun playdates for the adults, I mean for the kids :)
8. No changes in jobs, house, or anything life changing (minus #1)
9. Posted many great blogs about the girls and parenthood - great memories to share with the girls
10. Celebrated Maya's 3rd Forever Home Anniversary and Makenna's Baptism

We may not have gone on any lots of vacations or did anything super exciting but we did have a great 2010.  Merry Christmas to everyone.  I hope you have a wonderful holiday with friends and family.

Christmas Party

The girls' had their annual daycare Christmas party on Friday and parents are invited to come.  Their daycare usually has one event per month and they usually coincide with a holiday or event like Mother's Day.  The events are on the cheesy side but I love them and I try to attend every single one. 

At the party, Santa paid a visit to each classroom.  Makenna wouldn't go near him but Maya sat right on his lap and graciously took her gift (okay she literally took her gift).  After Santa left, the kids sang the song "Jingle Bells" and then we had snack.  On our way out, Maya and Makenna each received a gift from daycare to take home.  Spoiled girls!

We did decide to let the girls open their gifts before going to bed.  Wow did they get a lot of really neat stuff!  I have to admit, it is really unnecessary but certainly appreciated.  The daycare we attend is for all income levels so I think it is really nice they do this as some kids probably don't get much for Christmas.

These are the best pictures I got - I have come to the conclusion it is impossible to get a nice photo of the two girls together.  Oh well.  I did get a cute one of Maya with Santa.  Check out Maya's beautiful hair too.  Side story: the same mother who made a rude comment about Maya's natural hair the last time Maya wore it to daycare couldn't say enough nice things about it on Friday.  Oh good grief.  I had to resist my eye roll.

Christmas Around the Corner

YIKES!

Last Friday I decided to take a half day off from work and spend the afternoon getting some necessary stuff done such as laundry, grocery shopping, and wrapping Christmas gifts.  I really dislike using my pecious vacation for things like this but it certainly helped decrease my stress level as we had once again a busy weekend.

On Saturday Maya came with me to Joann Fabrics so we can make fun pretzels like these:

Which Makenna enjoyed eating :)

We also put up the tree - finally!

and thank goodness for shatter proof ornaments!

And on Sunday Maya participated in her first ever Christmas program at church.  She did such a wonderful job and looked adorable as well.  I was a proud mama!  After the program we enjoyed some holiday cookies and visited with some friends of ours.  Nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Did I mention Christmas right away the corner?  Did I also mention that means Dave is leaving very soon for Ethiopia?  Yikes!  I am still breathing and I am still hanging on.  I am ready for this holiday as I love it.  Who couldn't love Christmas and spending time with family?

Crazy Week!

For those of you dying to read another post from me (ha ha), I promised to update soon.  This has been a crazy week for us as we are trying to get ready for the holidays and for Dave's trip.  There never seems to be enough time in the day and week. 

I'll leave you with a picture of Maya with Santa :)

Here Comes Christmas!

This past Friday during my awesome 4 day vacation from work, I spent the afternoon decorating the house for Christmas.  I couldn't sleep the night before as I was too excited to get started and had way too many ideas flowing through my head.  I really enjoy decorating as I find it a lot of fun.

Before I start any project, I have to mentally think about it and plan it out in my head.  It works great except for when you want to sleep as my mind doesn't shut off very easily.  I had all sorts of ideas and wanted to spend very little on supplies which meant using what I have around the house.

I decided to decorate the main part of the house - kitchen, dining room, and main living room.  I opted to not put up the Christmas tree for now as I am afraid Makenna would grab it and pull it down.  Instead I decorated in places where little hands can not reach.

I love to decorate with ornaments specifically red, silver, and white.  I used them everywhere in my decorating.  Below two pictures are of my corner built-ins in my dining room.  Each have glass door but I just opened it for the picture.

 Below pictures are a ledge on top of my windows in my kitchen - the garland was cut to size, a string of white lights, and I added some berry picks to the mix.  I then made some arrangements out of ornaments.

 Back in my day, I was an inventory planner in the Christmas department at Target headquarters in Minneapolis, MN.  While working there, I obtain a lot of really cool decorations which I still have and use.  Below is the 5 piece village set Target had one year.  I actually planned out the inventory and purchased it for all Target stores.  It was only right I took home a set of my own.  Isn't it adorable? I decided to display it on top of our wine cabinet in the dining room.  I used empty shoe boxes for the back two houses.

I don't have photos but I made my own piece of wall art for a wall in the kitchen.  I used an unused 16x20 frame, wrapped the back in red foil Christmas paper, added some ribbon as a border, and threw on the words HO HO HO on it.  Kind of looks like a bad bulletin board but I like it.  Nice to do something original and be a little creative.

Anyone else decorate this past weekend?  Hope you enjoyed it as much a I did.

‘Tis the Season

To be Jolly. Fa La La La La La La La La

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope all of you took time to be thankful for all the wonderful things in your life. We enjoyed our day very much. Our original plans of spending time with family fell through but instead we got to spend the day as a family and enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with good friends. We are thankful.

Now it is time to look ahead. I am thrilled to say Christmas is a mere 29 days away. Woo Hoo! Christmas is by far my favorite holiday of the year.

Who couldn’t love:
• Christmas Lights
• Christmas Decorations
• Christmas Carols
• Christmas Spirit

I love all of it. I am not a Black Friday shopper by no means but I love hitting up Target in the late am. This year we got an awesome night sleep, got ready, and headed to Target. It was so busy but I didn’t care. I loved it. I loved being surrounded by others and I was in such a great mood. It feels great to be in the holiday spirit.

Now I am busy nesting at home. I’m not sure exactly why except maybe because Christmas is only 29 days away! And maybe because Dave is leaving me right afterwards for Ethiopia. Regardless, I am nesting and am loving it.

Off to tackle more of my list…

Being Thankful

Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away and it is a day to give thanks.  It is a day to remember and to maybe verbalize things you are thankful for such as good health, family, and a feast on the table.  But why do we wait an entire year to be thankful?  Why not be thankful year round? 

As I think about all the things I am thankful for, I can not help but think of the people in Ethiopia.  I can't help but think of my girl's birth families, the boys at Kolfe, the families who call Korah home, and all the street kids.  I can't help but think of the little boy and girls in the orphanages and the beggers in the streets.  These people work hard everyday to survive, literally.

I am thankful.  I am thankful for my family, my friends, the roof over my head, the food in my cupboards and refrigerator.  I am thankful for my job, the car I drive, and the clothes in my closet.  I am thankful for my education, my church home, and the ability to be compassionate towards others. 

I am thankful but not just today or in two days.  I am thankful year round as I know how wonderful and good I have it.  You see unlike many people who don't know where their next meal will come from, I do.  I know I will have 3 meals, I know I will sleep in my bed tonight, I know I will get up and be able to shower in clean water.  I am thankful.

Let's not be thankful for one day only but instead be thankful everyday of the year.  Remember all the good things in our lives.  I do.

Holiday Traditions

Now that Halloween is behind us, I have shifted into planning for my favorite holiday, Christmas. I LOVE Christmas. I love the music, the baked goods, the church services, the lights, the decorations, and I love the buzz in the air. This year is especially meaningful as we will be celebrating our first Christmas as a family of four. On top of that, we will be hosting our extended family for the first time in our current house. I can not wait to celebrate with my family and to have them worship with us in our amazing church.

I realize Thanksgiving is the next holiday and I really do enjoy Thanksgiving. Who can't love spending an entire day feasting on delicious food, seeing family, and gearing up for the biggest shopping day of the year? I love it but I love Christmas even more.

When I think of Christmas, I think of traditions. I have always wanted to build my own family traditions that Maya and Makenna will continue when they have families. As a kid growing up, I recall my own family traditions such as attending church service on Christmas Eve and then driving around my small town looking at all the beautiful lights.  I also loved having my grandparents come to visit and knowing Santa didn't forget to put a big bag of chocolate Twizzlers in my stocking. 

Great memories.

As I think back to my childhood, I can't help but think "What are our traditions?"

I guess I don't feel we really have any at this point.  We usually spend Christmas with either my family or Dave's which means incorporating each families traditions into ours. With each family having their own traditions, how do we incorporate our own? 

I really feel my generation is used to spending each holiday with family whether it be Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter.  I also think my generation not only spends the holidays with family, we are also the ones driving and rarely hosting.  Spending each holiday with family is wonderful and precious but it does make it hard to find your own family tradition. 
 
Does anyone have this issue?  Has anyone overcome this?  Is it possible to have your own traditions as well as share in your extended family traditions?