Home for Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent at our house, with my family and friends. We had a wonderful time catching up and being together to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This year, my hubby lit our advent candle while Shelby read the Christmas story from the Bible. It was a beautiful moment. The night seemed to fly by and it was time to say good bye to everyone. We are so blessed to have such a close and loving family.

Christmas morning started at 7:15 am (early then years past). The kids were excited! Shelby received an iPod and a Hollister jacket; Shannon received my little pet shop house/accessories and High School Musical games, pj's, movie and dolls; Grant received a pitch back, baseball bat, helmet and games. My fantastic husband and I will be receiving our Christmas gift soon. We ordered a new camera. I can hardly wait as this one will actually take action shots without blurring.

With 2008 within a few short hours, I can sum up our 2007...CHANGE! For the people who know me well, I don't like change. However, God has blessed me with the flexibility to adapt to change and through it all He has seen us through it. May God continue to bless us in 2008!

Sprinkles, Sprinkles and More Sprinkles

Saturday was our annual cookie baking day at Grammy's. We have been baking cookies since before any of us girls had children of our own. In years past, we baked all the cookies; however as we added more children their time span was short. We now bake only the sugar and spritz cookies at Grammy's, so we can "sprinkle" them.

I love this time together as family. I enjoy watching the kids grow in their abilities to help out and delight in decorating their cookies. Thanks Mom for letting the kids "sprinkle" until their hearts are content.

Birthday Surprise

Yesterday, my twin sister and I turned 41! Yes, 41! I am not one to get caught up on the age thing. I am proud to be one year older because the alternative is not one I want. I have a lot more living to do! However in the same breath, when I was a teenage I thought 40 was old; however I don't feel old. I still feel young!

Today was filled with loving phone calls wishing me a happy birthday and a lunch with my friends. However the biggest surprise was on me. My dear friend Mirella and planned this event months before with my Mom and Dad. Mirella had prepared a delicious authentic mexican fiesta complete with flan. She arranged to have them surprise me with this dinner. So what I had envisioned of a nice quiet evening at home, turned out to be a celebration with my sister, Shawna, my neice Becca, my nephew Carson, my Mom and Dad and my family. It was such a special gift from my dear friend! Thanks Mirella for a gift from your heart. Thank you to my sister and parents for coming to dinner. Thank you to my kids for the gorgeous homemade cards. Thanks to my wonderful husband for planning this and surprising me! I LOVE YOU ALL!

Beauty of Mother Nature

On Monday evening the freezing rain began coming down. By the 10 o'clock news the kids school was canceled for Tuesday. At midnight we were hearing tree limbs break in the back. We were prepared for our electric to go out. By morning, our electric was still on and we found a beautiful winter wonderland out our back window. Even the cardinals had weathered the storm. God can create such beauty! Thank you!

Time is precious

Yes, time is precious and unfortantely I have had my time filled with many things and have not had the time to blog. However, tonight I told myself it is time to write down some thoughts.

My life is busy and sometime I add more to it than needs to be. During this advent season, I have choosen to enjoy the experience of Jesus' coming. Instead of stressing, I am thanking God for this time in creating and wrapping my gifts. It may hit me soon that I am usually done buying and wrapping by this point; however I am not going to let it get me down. I have a plan trust in God and myself and I will enjoy this hectic season.

This past week brought our first snow. I shoveled our new drive for the first time and got to experience our wooded backyard covered in snow. We also put out our bird feeder and have enjoyed watching the beautiful cardinals and bluebirds enjoy it. We have had as many as a dozen birds enjoying our feed. I so enjoy spending time watching God's wonder!

As the time keeps on "ticking" until Christmas, I am filled with the love season.