It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We've had a busy and exciting week getting ready for Christmas and enjoying the season. 

• Meatball dinner and Christmas musical at church
• A visit with Santa at Microsoft's Holiday Family Night
• Sledding with nieces and nephew, followed by steaming cups of snowman soup
• Listening to our favorite Christmas songs!  (Pinky loves Jingle Bells!)
• Packing, wrapping and preparing for Christmas!

 

"Who's got a beard that's long and white?" 



Making an ornament
with Auntie Beret.






Helping mom wrap presents



A fun afternoon sledding!  The kids had so much fun with Uncle Cory!!!



Ready for church!





Watching "Christmas Shoes"
with Great-Great Aunt Marge!







What would Christmas be without a few holiday lights?

As you can see, our neighbors kind of get into this!

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas

and a multitude of blessings in 2011!  



Christmas Past

We spent the afternoon decorating for Christmas.  With an almost 11-month old, we modified our decorating a bit this year.  I spent a whopping $4 at the dollar store on plastic ornaments for the tree.  So, instead of the cherished ornaments, we primarily have cheap plastic ornaments hanging on the tree this year . . . but it's still beautiful! (Especially all lit up in the living room this evening!)

Part of the fun of decorating for Christmas isn't that we are decorating for the Christmas to come . . . but we are filling our home with treasures of Christmas past!

Our nativity is carefully placed in the stable my grandpa Carl made for my mom many years ago.  She gave it to me as a home for the nativity she also gave to me!

Our tree is skirted with the tree skirt my grandma Bella made and used for as long as I can remember when I was growing up!  I inherited the hand-made treasure in college when my roommate, Amy, and I had our first tree! 

In addition to the dollar store ornaments hanging on the tree are ornaments from Cory's mom and grandma Deloris.  It wouldn't be Christmas without these special gifts included on the tree!  Of course I only hung the ones that aren't breakable this year!

On our quilt rack is the winter quilt my grandma Eunice and I made together the winter after my grandpa Ellsworth past away.  I spent 3 days with my grandma that winter break making the quilt.  It was a difficult couple of days, as it was the first anniversary of grandpa's passing.  But it was also one of my most treasured times with my grandma.  I didn't get her to myself very often growing up . . . and even in my 20s it was priceless!  What a blessing to have the quilt as a reminder of that time with my grandma! 

As we surround ourselves with these treasures from Christmas past, we anticipate Pinky's first Christmas!  And we look forward to including these treasures in our Christmas traditions for years to come . . . with the exception of the dollar store ornaments of course!  :)



Pinky opening her first Christmas present!
Thanks, Aunt Sharon! 



"My first Christmas" 2010!



We bought this for "Pinky" last year
and hid it in the back of the tree because
no one knew her name yet!  :)



 

Ham Sandwiches

Tis the season . . . for decorating, baking, caroling, shopping and bell-ringing!  Have you heard them?  The Salvation Army Bell Ringers?  I rushed past one at the grocery store today . . . I'm sure most of us have done it several times already this year.  As I did so, I was reminded of the following words I sent in an email April 6th, 2009.  (If you remember, the Red River Valley was experiencing a record-breaking flood at that time.  We were sending email-updates frequently.  This was one.)

 

For weeks, Beret has been waiting for a ham sandwich from the Salvation Army . . . the kind you'd never make for yourself . . . ham and cheese between two slices of buttered white bread, wrapped in a sandwich bag and made by volunteers whose gift in these situations is found in the kitchen!  Most us had one after a night of sand-bagging weeks ago . . . I'm not why Beret passed them up, but she did and has been waiting for another chance ever since.

 

Yesterday afternoon, Cory, Beret, Jason and I got to see what happens when your house isn't on the safe side of the dirt levies and your sandbags don't hold.  George, age 77, and his wife live in a community  just south of Fargo.  They have a beautiful riverfront home which George had helped build.  Yesterday, we helped with the jobs that need to be done before he gets to rebuild . . . His basement had been filled with river water all the way to the ceiling of the basement (but fortunately didn't reach the 1st floor).  In fact when we took out the light fixtures in his basement, water poured out of them.  Not just any water. . . yucky Red River water . . . and they don't call it the Red River for nothing . . . this isn't your beautiful mountain fed crystal blue water running through Fargo . . . It's dirty and stinky!

 

After sending the water soaked carpet through the basement window, we used flat edged shovels to scrape carpet pads off the cement floor.  We used our rubber boots to kick holes in the sheet rock before we ripped it off the walls.  We used garbage cans and Rubbermaid totes to carry load after load of disintegrating sheet rock out of the basement.  These are jobs that need to be done and need to be done quickly to prevent mold from growing . . . and before the next crest.  These are not fun jobs.  There's very little hope in the devestation we were surrounded by, and we know others are much worse off than George.

 

We'd been working for maybe 2 or 3 hours when the guys came downstairs and said "The Salvation Army is here if anyone wants some hot chocolate or coffee"  . . . You know where this story is going . . . they also had HAM SANDWICHES!  And they were delicious!!!

 

Many people have been wondering what can be done . . . and I beg of you to keep praying!  A second crest is still predicted.  Today I saw the National Weather Service has stated there is a 90% chance the second crest will reach 40 feet or more.  That means it is quite possible we will break the record we set last week . . . and we'll need to "re-sandbag" for George and many others like him.  For many, it feels like half-time of a really bad game, as we wait for the 2nd crest.  For others, they reached their overtime days ago and are faced with more than many of us can even imagine.  People are tired and trying to find strength and hope to go through this again.  Your prayers are not unheard and we need every last one of them!

 

I also ask that you consider making a donation to the Salvation Army, who is still delivering ham sandwiches, and most likely will be doing so for weeks to come in the Fargo community!  Whether the money goes to the Red River Valley, or your own community, there are thousands of people who benefit from their presence every day!  Yesterday it was the 4 of us, standing outside George's beautiful home, drinking hot chocolate and eating ham sandwiches. 

 

 

Change of Plans

Veteran's Day weekend, 2010:

Our plans: To head west to spend the weekend with our families.  We were looking forward to a wonderful weekend of hunting, visiting, cards, and of course, Pinky was hoping for plenty of snuggle time with her grandparents! 

Unfortunately, Pinky woke up with a fever Wednesday morning.  A trip to the walk in clinic brought no answers and no relief for the fever or stuffy nose. 

Thursday morning was more of the same . . . fever, stuffy nose, and an all-around miserable baby.  Another trip to the walk-in clinic.  A stop at the pharmacy.  And a decision to make:  we couldn't take our sick baby out of town . . . but we were hopeful the she would wake up Friday morning feeling much better! 

Friday was day 3 of fevers between 101 and 105.  Surely, this couldn't last much longer!  We snuggled, we napped, we pushed fluids, and we waited . . .

Saturday morning, we woke up to the number we were waiting for:  98.6 on the nose.  Praise the Lord! 

Such a scary feeling to hold in your arms someone so small and helpless.  You can imagine our fears and worries that we have had in the last 3 days as we watched our typically spunky, playful, and smiley little girl suffer. 

And yet, what a blessing and a comfort to know that we live in a place where we have so many services at our fingertips.  We have ask-a-nurse on speed dial . . . a children's walk-in clinic just a 5 minute drive away . . . a fully-stocked pharmacy even closer . . . and an army of prayer warriors praying for Pinky!  It's hard to understand sometimes why we live in a place that is so "rich" with goods, services, and food . . . While others are living in a world of nothing.  No food, no medicine, no doctors, and no hope.

We didn't get to take the trip we had planned this weekend . . . but it was a small sacrifice.  We're safe, we're healthy, and we have a million things to be thankful for this Saturday afternoon.  I can't help but think about the children out there who were born into poverty . . . sick and alone . . . I wonder, are they waiting for a change of plans???

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 19:11

Firsts

We have had a lot of firsts in the last year:

First Smile
First Play Date
First Easter
First Road Trip
First Bite of Ice Cream
First Bite of Chocolate Cake
First Day of Daycare
First Halloween
First Bite of Pumpkin Pie

This week we had another . . . Pinky's first ball!

This may shock you to find out, but when it comes to shopping for Pinky, I probably do the bulk of it in our house . . . Her daddy is great at picking up diapers and formula . . . but when it comes to the clothes and other pink necessities, I pretty much have it covered . . . until this week.

The mission:  A trip to Target for diapers and a little rubber ball for the toybox.

Pinky's "Prize":  A mini WNBA Pink/Purple NCAA Basketball!  It's adorable!!!  Needless to say, Pinky loves her first ball .....

and her first coach.