Christmas Tree Time

One of my favorite traditions growing up was to go the day after Thanksgiving and cut down our Christmas tree in the mountains. I have so many fond memories of trudging through the snow to find the perfect tree and then drinking hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music. Unfortunately it has been a few years since we have been able to participate in that tradition. A few years ago we got a fake tree because our landlord wouldn't allow a real tree. I was hoping this year, since we now own our house, that we could get a real one again, but Nate said not this year. We have, however, kept up the tradition of decorating the tree the day after. (This year it was on the Monday after for FHE since we were gone over the Thanksgiving weekend.) The kids were SOOO excited and couldn't stop talking about it! As soon as dinner was over we started. Luke gave us a wonderful lesson on the True meaning of Christmas and reminded us all that it is really about Jesus. (How did I get such good kids?!) We turned on our Christmas music, thanks again Dad for the CD!!, and began to decorate!

 I handed out the ornaments and Nate took some pictures so we could document the fun. Our tree is getting too small for all the ornaments we have acquired!

 This year it was Luke's turn to put the star up!

 My happy helpers!

 One with me just so you can all gawk at my huge belly. ( I have been getting the "Oh my, when are you due?! comments already. It is going to be a long 11 more weeks!!)

Hurray for Christmas!!! We are all super excited for it!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we were able to go back down to visit some of our best friends! It was exciting and much looked forward to by all. The kids had a count down and waiting for Nate to come home from work on Wednesday so we could start was torture for them! Lily would ask about every 30 minutes if it was time to go yet. We finally started our way down to Huntington and made it there by dinner time. The kids were so excited I didn't see them for the first hour we were there! We got to meet baby Kaito, who is just about the cutest little boy ever! We got to eat wonderful food, stay up late talking, shop til we dropped and go see a total girl movie without the boys! It was fantastic! Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures! It is really sad, but I am hoping someone got some that I can steal later on. On Thanksgiving we spent the majority of the day in the kitchen preparing and then sat down to a wonderful meal. Everyone did such an amazing job and I was so thankful to be able to benefit from some wonderful cooks! After we ate, the kids ran off to play while the adults sat around talking. A little while into our chatting we heard some giggling up in the play room. One of the dad's went to check it out. He came down laughing so hard he could hardly talk. He just said we had to see the kids. So the kids came down one at a time to show us what they had been up to. Paint. Body Paint. All. Over. Themselves! The best was Ethan who painted himself COMPLETELY black. Hands, face, neck, etc. The only thing white were his teeth, eyes and fingernails. He was trying to be a black panther. It was so funny! Luke outlined a skeleton on himself and the girls just painted in every color they had. It was a HUGE mess to clean up and was hard to get off their bodies, but they had such a fun time and were soooo proud of themselves. Nate was NOT amused. But it was a memory I don't think any one will soon forget! The girls and I headed out for some crazy black Friday shopping and had a great time. The boys spent time building a huge wooden play set out in Stan and DeNae's backyard. They also took the kids to a Chuck-E-Cheese type place while we ladies went to see Twilight. We all had so much fun and it was so nice to be able to stay for Gordon to bless Kaito on Sunday. I am so thankful for the friends we have that make living away from family more bearable! I have so much that I am thankful for and I am glad that I have people in my life to share that with! 

AGAIN...??!!!!??....

At the beginning of the year, Luke needed a new pair of tennis shoes. He had out grown the last pair, which had lasted all last year. He found a pair he liked at WalMart. I know not to buy shoes from there, but he convinced me anyways. With in a few short weeks the soul had completely torn off. So I went to Target thinking I should have better luck there. And this is the result a mere 5 weeks later.

What am I going to do?! I can't afford good shoes for him, that is why we got the ones we did, but I can't afford to get him a new pair every month because they fall apart either!!! Any suggestions on brands to get that will withstand a rather tough 9 year old?? I am so frustrated!

Simple Joys

Having a fireplace is something I think some people take for granted. Unless of course you are not a fireplace kind of person, which I am. I was so excited that this house had a fireplace and one of the things that I made sure to ask for in the closing was to have it cleaned and ready to go for the winter.

We finally had a night that Nate was home and we had fire wood! We were all a little excited!

The girls were mesmerized by it!

 Luke was at scouts when we started it, but by the time it got going good he was home. The kids all got their pj's on and brought pillows and blankets down so we could camp out. We turned off all the lights and just sat and enjoyed it. The best part?? It was SNOWING outside!! We just needed some hot chocolate and it would have been perfect!

I see many nights like this in our future!!

Out with the old, in with the new...

When we got accepted to med school and then found out Lily would be joining our family, we decided to upgrade from our car to a van. It was a tough decision and even harder because we knew we better get it done before moving to WV where the pickin's would be slim! I was sick so Nate went out on his own and found us our van. It was a good van and all, but it was never what I wanted. He did good, but the one thing I had really wanted was rear air. I had heard that to have a can without was torture. It wasn't pleasant. In the summer the kids in the back roasted while we in the front froze. In the winter they froze while we roasted. And then there was that it was a Dodge Caravan and we knew that it wasn't going to last. Sure enough this year after the move things started going wrong. It was getting close to the time when the engine would need to be replaced and that was something we were not financially prepared for. Nate was able to fix a few things to make it run a little better, but the kids and I were terrified to drive it. On a whim one day we decided just to go looking. We ended up at a Toyota dealership and found the perfect van! It was the same year as our van, a '06, but it was a Toyota for one. It had rear air, power locks and doors that open with the push of a button, leather seats (so much easier to clean up), it even had a DVD player!! I had no idea what would happen. We had to leave to get the kids from school and when we got home we had a family prayer that things would work out. We got back to the dealership and they told us a price. I said no. I told them I wanted payments to stay where we were at. I knew it wasn't ideal, but we couldn't do it any other way and I was willing to walk away. And walk away we did. However two days later I got a call saying they would do it for what I wanted. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing. We still had 2 1/2 years on our old loan (ya Nate did a 7 year loan... it wasn't ideal) and it wasn't worth much. But they gave us high blue book value for it after all! We got down there the next day Nate had off and ended up with payments just a few dollars above what we were already paying and only adding 2 1/2 more years to what we would have been paying!!! AND I get everything I wanted in a van!!! I still can't believe it happened!! Every time I get into the van I am just so thankful! Now my kids have a chance to stay warm this winter as I have heard winters in Cleveland are brutal :)!

Here is the old van:

 And here is the new (to us) van!! I LOVE IT!!

It still amazes me how everything just fell into place for us and worked out. Just one more thing I have to be thankful for, especially at this time of year!! 

She's a thinker

The other day Lily and I were at the grocery store walking up and down the isles just trying to waste time. (Nate was at home post call and I wanted to let him sleep in a quiet house.) We were looking at some books when Lily says, " Mom, who is our REAL Heavenly Father?" I wasn't sure what she meant so I asked her.  She said, " You know, who is he?" I told her he was our Father that was in Heaven. She said, "I KNOW! But WHO is he? I don't remember him." I told her I didn't remember him either but that someday we would see him again and then she would remember. Then she said, "Ya, I know he is our Father that is in Heaven. I just wish I remembered what he looked like." I was floored that it was again my FOUR year old asking me these things. I thought the conversation was over. When we got home and after Nate woke up she again started asking questions to both Nate and me. I told him about our previous conversation. When I finished telling him she looked at us both and said, "So mom, if Heavenly Father is our father, then you and dad are BROTHER AND SISTER??!!" !!! Yup, that is right Lily.

She kills me! One thing is for sure, she is a thinker!!

A day to be thankful for

Do you ever have those days that you just feel so overwhelmed by gratitude for the things you have and the things around you? Today was one of those days for me. Nate was on call, so he left at 4:30 am. I was expecting to have a rough day. I also knew I would have to help teach in RS since we were having our visiting teaching conference today and I am one of the supervisors. I was really dreading the day before it even started! I couldn't sleep, thanks to my pregnant body aches, so I just sat in bed thinking about what and how I was going to present my part of the conference today. For those who know me well, you know I am all about schedules, order, lists, organization etc. I always have my talks written out weeks before and have gone over them so many times I could recite it by heart, but I have to have my papers anyways. This time I felt like I needed to go by the spirit. I had prepared, I had read over and listened to so much material. I knew what I wanted to say, but to not write it down, it was terrifying! So I got up, showered and got the kids ready. We got to church and I just felt fine. I was nervous, but not like I usually am. I enjoyed the meetings and then it was time to start. I don't even know what I said, I know I didn't say all that I had wanted to say. But the feeling that I had was something I will never forget. I felt such gratitude for the women of my ward that have touched my life. I felt gratitude for my calling, for the opportunity I had to prepare for such a conference, and gratitude for the blessing of the gospel in my life. My life is the way it is because of my membership in the church. I have so much in a world where so many don't. Service in the church is always like that, I ALWAYS get more out of it than I put in to it. It is amazing to me that I could find so many things to be grateful for on a day when I was so alone and tired. The kids and I came home and the day continued in a peaceful, calm way. Then Nate called to say hello and I decided spur of the moment to take him some dinner down to the hospital. It was so nice to be able to see him for a little while today and to see where he works. Again, my feelings of gratitude returned. I am so grateful for a husband that is hard working and dedicated, that cares so much about others and yet still loves and cares for his family. I am grateful for good kids who make my life worth living. I have a full life, sometimes I forget that, but today the Lord let me see so many things that I am thankful for and that is a precious gift that I hope I will not soon forget!