Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve day:

Met Kim "Sarge" O from Socks for Soldiers (SFS) at her son's house here in town. Kim H and Janet L, were also able to meet. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and learning while we knitted. The atmosphere was amazing!

Christmas Eve afternoon:

Went to church for Christmas services. A TON of music this year! It was awesome!! The message was sweet - about the reason Jesus came, and the candle-liting was pretty. I had to snicker when Cody pulled about 1/2 dozen battery operated tea light candles out of his pocket instead of using the real lighted candles! He's gotten hot wax on his hands several years on a row now, so this was his solution! We were able to sit with our friends the Kurtz's (they have a son between our boys), behind Cody's best friend's family, and in front of a friend (who is a girl) from youth group.

Starting a tradition of taking the family photo at church after the Christmas Eve service. These are the top picks!

Christmas Eve evening:

After church we went to our favorite restaurant, Texas T-bone. The place was not crowded, the menu great! (build your own evenything! salad, burger, wrap, etc) The boys decided on the adult menu and had enough food for 3 meals!! My build-your-own-salad was served in a bowl big enough to feed the whole family - as a meal!! Not a side!! We rolled ourselves out of there and came home. A very nice treat!

Christmas day:

We stayed home and invited Mom over. Jay asked to read something to the family before we opened presents. He had taken his new Bible and hunted down Luke 1 and read it aloud. It sounded a lot like Linus from the Charlie Brown Christmas movie - too cute! very sweet, inocent and pure! Bill followed him up with, "That was Jesus birth from man's point of view, let's look at it from God's point of view," and read John 1. We prayed and opened our stockings. We didn't open everything at once - instead I sit the timer for 30 mins and then we'd open something else - or we'd just wait until the fun with one toy wound down, or the building of the new lego was done and played with for a few minutes. It was very relaxed and peaceful!! Even the making of the meal was stress free! Thank you Lord for that gift!

Here's a few pictures of my boyz and some of their presents:

(this is Bill by the way - Amanda sent him a G.I.Joe party pack!)

November 15, 2009 Jacob's baptism

Jay (aged 9) was baptized this day. This was his decision and he was impatient that he had to wait over a month before he could do it. (Isn't that awesome!)
The was snowy and we thought they might cancel church, but they didn't! Yeah! We arrived extra early because we didn't know how bad the roads would be or how long it would take us to get there. We ducked into the Jr. High room where they were working on a pancake bar for the kids, and offered it to both boys. They each had pancaked loaded with butter, syrup, candy, whipped cream - the works!! Then Jay and Bill met with the pastor to go over what to do, when, etc. and the pastor suggested they walk around a bit and get a donut to calm the nerves - Jay picked a filled donut! By the time I caught up with them behind the stage, Jay was jumping up and down (litterally) with all the sugar coursing through him system!
The actual act of baptising him went off with out a hitch! (I have pictures, but don't know where they are - I might have used mom's camera)
We had planned a big get together with friends and family. The speculative total was just over 20 people in our little house, but that number quickly dwindled as one family, then another became sick, then the weather turned bad. BUT Aunt Marty and Uncle Pete drove allll the way from Buena Vista, CO just to be here for it!! They even stayed for the whole church service. Omi and her best friend Maryanne also came to the service and stayed!! They all made it over for the get together at home. I served Taco Soup (which was burnt in my haste to re-heat it quickly - pooh!) and all the fixings. Jay specifically asked for a cake decorated with a river and a dove (for when Jesus was baptized!! Isn't that soooo cool!). We have him a Bible with a blue leather cover and a sword on it. It has the armor of God in pictures throughout it.Bill was even able to get it engraved.
We are so proud of Jay's choice and the choices he's made since then!