So Long 2008, Hello 2009!

On the final day of 2008, do you have any resolutions or goals for the new year?  As previously mentioned, I am a list maker.  An office supply store is my candy store.  I enjoy brand new notebooks and a new calendar is heaven.  I like new years for what they represent – a new beginning of sorts although I try not to hold  it to just the year.  Why not start with a month?  Or a week?  Or even more simple, a new day?  Do you have goals to get ahead in life?  Secure your financial situation in a weak economy?  To lost that dreaded extra weight?  To exercise more and eat right?  To live each day to its fullest potential?  To enjoy the life God has given you?  Before you delve into those, reflect on what you did accomplish in 2008.  There are a few things that I am proud to say that have been a good start in 2008 and I hope to continue it in the coming years.

1)  Volunteer as a family. Part of this can be attributed to Taylor being required to do community service for his Pre-IB program for school but if that’s what it took to get started, then so be it!  No one truly enjoys being out of their comfort zone but now we regularly serve the homeless pizzas during our church’s Compassion Sunday.  Ken and Taylor have also helped out with the Union Rescue Mission.  I’d like to do more but this is a start.

2)  Save for a rainy day. Very  hard to do in today’s economy and with a huge student loan hanging over our head but we’re finally getting some money put aside for emergencies/rainy days.  It was a huge relief to have Christmas 100% paid for before the holidays!  The trip that Ken and I took to New York was 100% paid for before we left as well, something that makes it much easier to enjoy the trip if you’re not worrying about the credit card balance!

3)  Enjoy our family and friends. Life is too short.  The house can stay dusty, the laundry can wait – enjoy your family! Spend time with your friends.  As I mentioned in my previous blog, our families are making more of an effort to get together and that is time well cherished.  Will they remember that we ran out of milk or that the kids had so much fun playing remote control cars?

So, do I have anything specific planned for 2009?  Well, definitely continue with #1-3 above!  If I ever want to fit back in my favorite jeans I’ll have to watch what I eat and probably exercise more consistently (always difficult with children when they’ve got homework, etc. at night!)  I think my biggest goal would have to go along with the flair that I found on Facebook “Let Jesus shine in 2009!”

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  MANY BLESSINGS TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!

Many Visitors, Many Blessings

This holiday season my family and I have been blessed with a busy and bustling household.  We started Christmas Eve with my family coming over (Mum and Dad, Darren, Cheri, and Ali, and David, Nancy, Zach, Kate, Liam, and yes, 2-day old Abbie!).  On Christmas Day Mum and Dad popped over for a bit and then we headed to their house.  On Boxing Day we had a lovely, but short visit with Ken’s sister Julie, her husband Doug, and Lauren.  This was the first time in a long time that they’ve visited us here in Kansas.  They reside in Arkansas and were on their way from Oklahoma City to Branson, MO.  On Saturday Keith and Amy and their children arrived.  Our children always play so well together and now that our house has once again become quiet, we’re all tired!

Many people dread the holidays because they have to spend time with their families.  Earlier this year our family suffered a tragic loss when our 21-month old nephew, Weston, passed away suddenly.  We know that Weston is with Jesus although that does not stop us from missing him.  We have, however, begun to appreciate our families that we have with us now.  We try to keep more in touch with our other family members and have made more frequent visits to see them and them us.  Life is too short to be full of “we should have done this more often”.  Truly appreciate what you’ve been blessed with.  What are you waiting for?!

Here are a few pics of the last few fun-filled days!

Wesley got a hold of the camera and started taking pictures!  We were not just laying around the basement but were taking turns playing the Wii!

Lauren and Julie ham it up for the camera!                    Addi and Jocelyn can play dolls for hours.

Karson and Taylor love their Hollister apparel!  Konner and Wesley were twins today!

The Wii, Rock Band/Guitar Hero guitars, and other electronics were a big hit this weekend!

Merry Christmas!

Taylor woke us all up at the ridiculous hour of 4:55am — isn’t that too early for an 11-year old who claims he doesn’t believe in Santa to be excited about Christmas!?  Heck, even Buddy didn’t want to get up!  I see a nap in our future. . .

Christmas Eve 08

I love Christmas Eve and look forward to our church service.  The music is fabulous, the message warming, and then there’s always the family with Baby Jesus, shepherds, kings, real camels, and flying angels.  What’s not to love?!  And as a Christian, it’s always emotional for me as I get wrapped up in the music and singing the words telling us that Jesus came to Earth because He loved US so much!

This year we ended up with a get-together at our house following the service for lasagna, salad, and desserts.  The children decorated sugar cookies too before opening some presents.

The boys were being goofy!

Cheri made the children cool kitty cat dresses and sweatshirts/tops!

Darren with Ali; Liam checking out his new album.

3 Generations! David, Liam and Dad (Peter)

Too cute! Taylor took this one!

Welcome to Our Wonderful World, Abbie!

David and Nancy welcomed their newest daughter this morning at 5:15am. She weighed in at 7lbs 10oz and 20″ long.  Congratulations! They haven’t fully decided on the name yet and I’m not sure how they’re spelling the long version of Abbie so I’ll fill everyone in when they’ve decided!  Isn’t she beautiful?!?!

Update:  The official name is . . . drum roll please! . . . Abigail Noelle!

Family Fun

Now that I’m officially out of school until January, I’m trying to make special time with the family truly count.  Several years ago I made cinnamon dough ornaments and used them as gift tags for the family.  It was a lot of fun but the children were too young to participate.  I thought we could do it again this year only they could help.  This afternoon I started the process and Jocelyn joined in.  Wesley came along and helped, too, but then Jocelyn got mad that Wesley was helping and took off!  Ahh, sibling rivalry.  Anyway, we made quite a few and even took pictures to go along with them!  Now they have to dry and we’ll decorate them in a couple of days.

The glitz of the holidays

Ken and I are far from party animals but this weekend we actually had two Christmas parties back to back! Turns out both his work and mine were scheduled for Friday night at the exact same time. So we headed to the Fox and the Hound for Party #1 to have dinner and drinks and then we trekked over to the opposite side of town for Party #2 at my principal’s house. We actually had a good time and spent about 1 1/2 hours at each location but we were in bed really late compared to our usual schedule! Now we have one more this Saturday night and that should be it! Is that pathetic or what?!?!