Heat Wave!

For the past two weeks the temperatures have been in the 40's and 50's around here. It is December isn't it?? For the past four years our Decembers looked like this....

blizzards
lots and lots of blizzards
crazy massive piles of snow
sub zero temps
wind chill cold enough to make your blood freeze

but this year...

40's and 50's.

I don't know what is going on! We are still in Nebraska aren't we?! Because we left the house today without wearing our winter jackets. And we played outside at our playgrounds. And we did not freeze when we only wore our sweaters.

This cannot be the Nebraska winters I have come to know and dread....I think somebody changed states on me....

...and in the event that we have been abducted and sent to some amazingly pleasant warmer and better alternate universe for the winter.....thank you! We are loving this!

Feels.so.good to be outside in December and not have our blood freeze!

Merry Christmas

I was the first to rise Christmas morning. No longer able to sleep I got out of bed and headed for the shower to have some alone time and pray before the craziness of the morning began. I knew the girls would be up soon and we would quickly be lost in a sea of wrapping paper and presents....so I stole a few quiet moments for myself with my Lord. While showering and getting ready for the day I felt the Lord impress upon my heart to make Him the focus of our day from the very beginning.

It should kinda always be like that....but I need a good reminding too. :~) And I knew it would be too easy to stop and thank Him after the presents had been opened. Or get carried away and forget entirely.

This year though...I wanted to stop and thank Him before we touched a single gift. I think it's very easy even in the midst of receiving, to still want more. To be ungrateful for a gift not received or jealous over something else someone got instead. Selfishness and the "me mindset" can flow very subtly through a family. So to focus our hearts on Jesus...instead of ourselves...Isaak first read us the Christmas Story from one of the girls children books. And then we prayed and thanked Jesus for His life, and that He would give us thankful hearts and make us content and grateful for all we received that day. Probably my favorite Christmas to date. I just felt the Lord's peace and joy in our midst all day long. It was a beautiful day. We are very blessed. :~)

Isaak and Sydaleigh spent most of the day at the table together building their new Lego sets. Those two are big Lego lovers. And then the rest of the day was spent playing their new Hungry Hungry Hippos game. I knew this would be a hit....but wow! This game was a hit! Marvelly particularly loves it. :~)

We celebrated this year with just us. It was very quiet and laid back. We stayed home and relaxed and just enjoyed each others company. It was unseasonably warm at almost 50 degrees with the bright sun pouring into the house from every window. It felt amazing.

 It was peaceful and joyous and our hearts were all very full. It was great Christmas.

Twas the night before Christmas.....

This Christmas Eve we took the girls downtown and spent part of the day at the Durahm Museum and strolling the streets of the Old Market. We love the Durahm Museum but it is particularly special at Christmas time....bringing in the largest indoor tree in the area.

the girls have this big obsession with the Indian display. Particularly the teepee....
right now they have a traveling display called "Cut" featuring costumes from the movies.

I was in heaven! Those costumes, those dresses! Ah! Amazing! This piece was worn in "Gosford Park" by Maggie Smith. And that red dress......

this one...was worn in The Land of the Blind. So stunning. The girls could not take their eyes off of it. Marvelly kept telling me that THIS is the dress she wants to wear at her wedding. You go for it girl! If me and Isaak got married again, that is what I would wear too! And next to it was this soft pink dress worn by Emmy Rossum in Phantom of the Opera. So many stunning pieces. Ah, to be born in the 1800's and get to wear dresses like this.....*sigh*

And then we walked around downtown for a while. I love it down here. We have a great downtown with charming brick streets and a plethora of restaurants and stores in renovated warehouses from the late 1800's. I love coming down here.

I think the girls were eager to fall asleep so they could wake up and open presents. :~)

We enjoyed a nice quiet dinner, with just us tonight. Isaak made a ham and turkey with potatoes and stuffing and I made some homemade honey rolls. We sat around the big table with Trans Siberian Orchestra playing in the background.

And then after dinner we let the girls open up one special gift....new nightgowns to sleep next to the tree in.

 and then we gave them one more...a Christmas tradition of opening up a new movie every year on Christmas Eve and watching it before bed. This year they got "How To Train Your Dragon" (which they've already seen and absolutely LOVE). Such a great movie.

So all four of us squeezed onto the love seat and watched the movie, then the girls settled down in their sleeping bags next to the tree for bed. Isaak read them "Twas The Night Before Christmas" and an hour later I am still waiting for the to go to sleep! They are very eager for the morning, not that I blame them. :~) As a kid I couldn't wait to run into the living room and see all the gifts piled under the tree. My parents saved most of the wrapping for Christmas Eve so when we woke it was always so exciting to see how the gifts under the tree had grown. I love that they hold that same enthusiasm. They are very thankful tonight. And so am I.

Tomorrow we bake a cake (or perhaps put candles in some mini cupcakes I already made) to celebrate Jesus' birthday and give Him praise for His life and love!

It was a most enjoyable Christmas Eve!

A ride on the MiniVan Express!

 

We recently purchased "The Polar Express" for the girls to watch this Christmas. They have only seen it once but they instantly loved the movie. So, we decided to have a little fun with them tonight.....

I printed off some "MiniVan Express" tickets and hid them under their pillows....
I sent them upstairs to get ready for bed early...
While they were putting on their jammies Isaak was warming up the "MiniVan Express" and popping some popcorn....
after a couple minutes I heard Sydaleigh call to me from her room saying she found something....
Marvelly had discovered her ticket underneath her pillow.....
there was much debate over what it could mean....Sydaleigh was thoroughly convinced it was some kind of magic ticket...
she quickly looked under her pillow and discovered one for her....
oh, delight!

 I tell the girls to put on their shoes, slippers and robes and just as they do they hear from downstairs....
"Tickets please! Tickets please! All aboard the 'MiniVan Express!'"...
They hurry down the stairs to see conductor Daddy waiting at the door with his ticket puncher...
the girls are so excited!

Conductor Daddy punches tickets Polar Express style and we hurry out the door...

The MiniVan Express honks its horn pulling away and we set off into the night to see ourselves some Christmas lights at Linden Estates!

There was plenty of popcorn to go around, Christmas music blaring from the radio, clapping, giggles, and squeals of "LIGHTS!"

We had such a good time, there was so much joy and enthusiasm, and we loved treating them to this little surprise before bed. Such.a.fun.night!

Med Group Christmas party

It's the first work Christmas party I've been able to attend in a couple years. Last year the girls were sick. The year before...who knows. Something. This year I was going to be there with Isaak! And I am happy to say it was way better than the last one I attended....like three years ago. (It's always a toss up with these nights....always best to have a plan B just in case it bombs...but we never had to go to our plan B, so, success.)

It was Candy Land themed so I scored myself a free box of candy.
I won $5! Whoo hoo!
Isaak won a lottery ticket, but that didn't pay out.
There was a very entertaining dance off between squadrons. A small group from Isaak's dental squadron performed a hilarious dance number. And they were liked so much they were requested to do an encore performance at the end with everyone from dental...minus the "too cool for this" guys who stood in the back (eh hem...Isaak.)
Sat at a fun table.
Had a good time people watching...ya just never know what you're going to witness at these events.
Good food.
Got to get dressed up.
And I got to cap off the night watching an adorably old couple break.it.down on the dance floor. I'm talking....the younger folk were no match for this couple, they were busting out some serious moves. It was hilarious. I just love seeing older couples enjoying each other still, and enjoying life. And not caring a single lick what other people think about them. It was beautiful. 

Christmas season in full swing

When we pulled back into town on December 3rd., after fifteen days away, we hit the ground running with Christmas preparations.

So as we unloaded the car and unpacked our bags, we unloaded the garage and unpacked our Christmas decorations right along with it.

We are doing Christmas smaller this year though. We only put up the tree and stockings, and like, two other Christmas themed decor in the house. I have my faithful homemade fleece Christmas throw that Aunt Sherry made me over ten years ago. And my Christmas Mickey perched on the couch. And that about does it this year. I wanted something more simple. With everything going on at the moment, it didn't make much sense to do Christmas big like always. And, I like it better this way. I like the more simple approach. Less stuff. Which will be good preparation for next Christmas. :~)

Before we left town we put together some Christmas presents for some local school children. We decided to forego doing Samaritan's Purse Shoeboxes this year (*gasp!*) and instead Isaak selected three kids in Omaha and we shopped for them with the girls. We wrapped them up and prayed that the gifts would be a blessing. And I can only pray that one day this will reach my girls hearts and they will understand what it means to give and to pour into someone else. One year at a time.....

 Putting up the tree and fluffing it out.

decorating it with all those "little carrots" and loading up single branches with four bulbs to make it as beautiful as can be. Normally I would go back and re-decorate the tree, spreading out the ornaments so that the other branches wouldn't feel left out....but this year I just left it all where it was. And it looks just as good. :~)

 We have been busy making treats, trying new recipes, and this year I did my first attempt at salt dough ornaments. Sydaleigh thought they worked better as a mustache.

It has been a particularly stressful season for me. Being out of town for so long and coming back to school and Christmas and having to readjust has been slower. We were all out of sorts of a while. I am still out of sorts. The simpler approach to Christmas has helped but there is no denying that Christmas is different this year. My heart is in a much different place. Some days it has been very hard to focus on the reason why I decorated at all. And other days I have to scoop myself off the floor after succumbing to tears over a Christmas song on the radio. Even in the midst of preparing for a major life change, this year is still different. So many friends have moved on this year. I was standing in the kitchen tonight remembering all the faces I won't be seeing this year. Missing their company. Longing for more time spent with them. Some days this life is harder than others. Even in my thankfulness over God's plan and different directions for us all....I still miss each and every one.

One day though....there will be no more missing.

One day....we'll all be together.

One day...a long time ago...Jesus came and made that hope possible.

One day...a long time ago...God came, humbled Himself, and took on the created form he Himself created, and brought with His life an eager anticipation that all who love Him will be together, forever. And I rejoice over that day. The day when all those faces will be gathered in one place.

With five days left before Christmas....I celebrate ALL that Jesus' life made possible. It cost Him more than I will ever know....and I am exceedingly grateful.