Happy Birthday Jesus.

My mom, Troy (Mom's special friend), and James all came to Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Of course Grammy came through with lots of gifts, including a nostalgic Rock 'em Sock em' Robots. I am sure Daddy and Jairus will have lots of fun with that.

 Jairus got one stuffed stocking. Santa only does the stockings at our house, and he lavished Jairus with all kinds of chocolates, and goodies.



Daddy got sweedish fish. I think Santa must be thrifty, looks like he shops the bulk section at the grocery store. :)

 I was most excited about this gift for Jairus. I couldn't wait, so I ended up waking him to open his presents. It is such an amazing feeling to know I picked out the perfect gift for my little dude. We bought him 10 different Thomas trains, and wrapped them individually, to ensure he would savor each and every one.

 I think that is like the gift Jesus gives us. He is so excited for us to open it, He is almost jumping up and down with anticipation. Our Savior knows what penetrates our hearts, and the healing power of His love is the greatest gift of all.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I had the perfect gift for Jairus under the tree, knowing how fitting, and awesome it was, and how I would feel if he just chose not to open it. That is what Christmas is all about, the day God gave humanity the greatest gift of all- the birth of a Savior. How heart breaking it must be for Him to wrap this eternal gift in swaddling clothes, being a perfect and righteous gift, and how many times his children chose to leave it on the tree.

Christmas isn't about the rush to buy up Toys R Us, or to bake a million cookies. We have lost the meaning of this miraculous holiday. We don't savor the gift of our Savior the way we should. It is about the day God changed the possibilities for all humanity, if only we choose Him. Christ Jesus, the Lord. Thank you, Lord for the divine birth of your Son. You have transformed my life, and my character. Happy Birthday Jesus.

I couldn't leave Amelia out. She didn't have much to open, because I just bought her clothes, and couldn't wait to put them on her, so she had all her presents early.

Baking MARATHON!!!

In the span of three late nights, I baked over 40 dozen cookies. Yes, friends that is not a typo
40 dozen!!! I normally am very particular about Jairus' bed time. But these last few days, I have allowed him to stay up until his little light burnt out. He has some oil in his lamp, beacuse he hung out with me until midnight two of the nights, and 1am one of the nights. He must be my boy.

Sophie Girl is getting pretty old, but now that Jairus is bigger, she loves hanging out with him. They play tug o war now, and she is in heaven.

Cousins

There was a time when I would have loved to move out of state and had life all to myself. Thank goodness God doesn't give us everything we want. Friendships have blossomed, and our family has grown so much in the last several years. Jairus and Amelia are so blessed to have a brood of cousins around the same age to share their little lives with. I am blessed we spend so much time together. The boys brewing their latest hoppy concoction, Sam and I cooking and shootin' the breeze. The best gift is hearing the wild imagination of our children, and the sound of their sweet laughter rising up in creshendo over our own conversation. It is a symphony to my ears. All of our kids have their own special brand of uniqueness, each gifted in their own colorful way. Thank you Jesus for the gifts you have given me.

An early Christmas present

My brother Cj and sister Janelle sent Jairus and Amelia presents. I tried with all my might to not let Jairus open it early. But because I can't keep any presents a secret for long, I gave in and let him open his present early. Jairus loved his gift, and the paint on every piece of spare cardboard is proof. Thanks you two! I would have given anything for you to be here for the holiday.

Little Miss is loving tummy time these days. She even got up on her hands and knees for a second.

I love this face.

A Gold Gift

 We got a fabulous idea from very good friends of ours. Instead of buying tons of gifts, our family does a few; making a point to make them thoughtful. Because Jesus was gives four gifts, we figure what is good enough for Jesus, is good enough for us. He was given frankensense, gold, Myrrh, and swaddling clothes. Frankensense is a representation of our relationship with God, so this year we got him books about the birth of Christ. The gold gift represents long lasting something. That could be a memory, or skill we are trying to teach. This year we picked two, going to this train lunch, and a piggy bank to begin teaching Jairus about money. Myrrh was used to embalm bodies back in the day. This represents for the here and now, something fun, that isn't necessarly going to last forever. Jairus is going to be so excited to open his new Thomas wood trains for that gift. The last is obvious-clothes.

Today, we took Jairus out to Elbe to a restaurant and hotel that have embodied old trains on actual track. We didn't stay the night in the hotel, but we had a great lunch and got to look at trains coming and going for their annual "Santa Tour".

The lunch coach

Amelia

Their historic church. I used to dream getting married in a tiny which church like this one. Instead we got married by a justice of the peace, and had lunch at Applebee's.

A diesel engine

The steam engine

Another of diesel.

We had such a great time as a family, it ended up being a gold gift for everyone!

And it's up

Here are my boys decorating the tree. Jairus is putting up an ornament from when I was a kid. Tim is hanging his airborne Santa his parents gave him when he was in an Airborne unit in the Army

Here is our Gingerbread house. This is one of my favorite Advent activities.

The hunt for the Christmas Tree

We really like to go into the mountains to select a wild tree. However this year, my Mom and her special friend, Troy gave us a certificate for a free farm tree. We headed out late morning with the sun playing peek a boo through the clouds. It was a bit of a road trip, going all the way out to Shelton. By the time we got into town, Amelia was done with being in a car seat, and what a suprise, Jairus was hungry. We ate at a new local restaurant/brewery. They had some decent food, and when we finished, we finished the trip out to this tree farm. It was different than the tree farms we are familiar with out in Orting. There was some terrain, which gave us the feeling of being in the mountains searching for the perfect pine. Another thing I liked about this farm, was the trees weren't so commercial looking. They were far more trimmed than the wild trees, but maintained some character; as apossed to the ultra maintained and trimmed trees at the popular farms. It was a perfect combination.

It didn't take long to find the perfect tree. Thank goodness, because it was WINDY that day.

Here is Succulent cutting it down.



Amelia bundled up.

Going back to the car.

It was such a great day, just us. So simple and fun.

The Advent.

Until a few days ago, I just thought Advent meant those cardboard calendars with chocolate for each day of December. It is truly so much more than that, it is the anticipation of the celebration of the birth of Christ. But do we treat this month with thoughtful anticipation? I know I am guilty of rushing to get the tree, rushing to shop, rushing. And how many times have we heard someone say the day after Christmas, "I am so glad that's over." For the rest of the days and nights until Christmas, I am going to make a genuine effort to live this month with anticipation of the greatest birthday. I know I am so much more thankful and patient when I am not rushing through the motions. I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior, everything is different because of Him.

Family staycation in the city

 On Friday, we took the whole family up to Seattle to hang out together. We did a lot of walking, watched the tree and Macy's Star light up. Then Saturday, we went down to the waterfront and went to the Seattle Goodwill.

Waiting for the tree lighting

Coming off the carousel

Amelia Bedila

The "big" kids

Love this one!

Chill Thanksgiving

 We arrived at Jeremy and Sam's around 7. The boys got the turkey in the smoker, and we relaxed most of the day. A good childhood friend of ours came and enjoyed dinner with us. I didn't get any pictures of the big kids because they spent the whole day playing. It was one of the least stressful holidays I think we ever had. We kept the menu simple and  soaked in the family time.

Uncle Chris and Ian

Chris and Amelia

Jeremy and Micah

Our good friend, Ian

I am thankful for Candy canes

As the day melts into evening, I am prepping for tomorrow. Christmas music playing, and Jairus telling me jokes fills the room. We are have hot cocoa in our hands with candy canes slowly desolving into the rich liquid. I love this time of year. The creamy hot chocolate spiked with peppermint coats our bellies. The heat kicks on, a constant reminder of the barbaric cold just outside our door.
 "Can I help you, Mommy," Jairus' sweet voice requests over the jolly sounds of Bing Crosby.
"Not right now dude, I am using knives, and you aren't quite ready to start cutting things like this. But if you want to, you can have some sissors, paper and glue." Love how I slid that one in. He loves to help, but sometimes a mommy just needs to get things done. He is totally happy with his scissors and glue, not a consolation prize in his little mind. Jairus sits happily at the counter while I continue cutting up veggies for the stuffing. A sweet time, just him and I.

The last few days of Thankfulness

I am thankful for slow weeks. Those times when we blow off the world to be a family. The Barnards had lots of that this past week. I am thankful for Tim and Jeremy's hobby of brewing beer, I certainly get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Thank you Lord for yummy smells like Cinnabear, Satin Sheets, and all the good smells Scentsy has to offer. I am so excited to get my warmer and scents from Sam's party. Even though I am not a fan of snow driving, the snow has given us an excuse to play around and enjoy the crisp outdoors.

Mostly, I am thankful for being blessed to stay home. Some days, I am aching for a break, but far and beyond those moments, there is nothing better for me than to be home with my kids. I never miss a thing. Amelia's first time rolling over, I was there. Jairus' excitment about his first weeks of school, I was there to pick him up and talk to him about it. We are blessed! There is no waking my sleeping babies up early to drop them off. God bless all the families who do those things, I am very thankful Tim's job supports us enough so I have the choice to stay home.

I am thankful for peaceful mornings. With Christmas music playing in the background, putting a rythym to our day. Jairus sits at the counter, and patiently waits for, "eggs with cheese, and jalapenos, hot sauce and ketchup.... But not mixed up," as he would say. "Mom, may I have some water please," he requests as he takes a bite of the gooey concoction. As I set his water in front of him, "thank you," he replies. At this moment I am grateful. This small morning routine is sacred to me. There is no rush, no drilling of rules, no reminders, no time outs; it is bliss. I love that every day, no matter how crazy the rest of the day is, every morning is like this. By nightfall, I may be at the end of my rope, but joy comes in the morning. This is my joy, cooking eggs for my polite little guy. The slate is clean and the zest for the day is new.

SNOW!!!

 The cold weather came rolling in last night. By morning we had a good three inches. Jairus was excited to get outside to play. He had a great time jumping in the snow, making angels and having a snowball fight with Tim.

Jairus and Tim made a great snowman.

But it fell, and Jairus was left with a snowball.