Back in the Swing

I realize that I'm such a blog slacker that I can't actually catch up on all that's gone on in our family this month, so I'll just start with this week.

We had a crazy week as usual. It started with a Girl Talk event at church (that I had the privilege of coordinating) with over 240 women in attendance! Then, Wednesday, we hosted Pastor Ghassan from Baghdad for dinner. What an amazing man! It was an honor to have him in our home and at our minichurch.

Thursday and Friday were the funeral services for my dear "old Aunt Dotty" (that was how she signed all of our cards). She passed away suddenly last Sunday, and she will be missed so much!

Aunt Dotty was my great aunt. She never married or had any children, but all 100 people in attendance at her service Friday morning called her "Aunt Dotty". She was a sweet, loving lady who endeared herself to all who knew her - familhy, church family, community, etc. Thanksgiving (Dollar Store) presents wrapped in newspaper was my favorite Aunt Dotty tradition. She always brought several for everyone, plus extra door prizes we raffled off! She also sent cards and notes for every occasion possible - lost teeth, report cards, new fish, etc. She was the only east coast great-grandparent my children ever knew - and they loved her! In fact, at her service, during open sharing time, Lila kept raising her hand. I, of course, kept pushing it down, afraid of what she might say. I'm so glad I finally gave in and let her share in front of 100 people. Lila stood and loudly proclaimed to the audience, "She was my great great Aunt Dotty, and I just loved her so much!" There was a collective sob through the room, and Ryan and I were so proud of our extroverted, bold, loving daughter. It was a rough week dealing the girls' emotions and questions - you can only imagine the wondering that went on! :)

We came home in time for a minichurch leader's dinner on Friday night. Saturday we had a little baby shower here for my friend Faith. So today, after church and a birthday party that Lila attended, we're enjoying some down time as a family. We're looking forward to life settling down this week.

December Blizzard

You've got to love getting over two feet of snow 5 days before Christmas! At least "Trudy the Wonder Dog" does....

The kids had almost as much fun as the dog....

That's a whole lotta snow!

Christmas!!!

Well, I'm finally getting around to blogging about our wonderful holiday. At first we were so busy, and then we were just busy relaxing together as a family, so I've been a total blog slacker. Part of the problem is that we got a very exciting New Year's gift - a new iMac! I love it, but it's taking some getting used to. I've been working on transferring my laptop photos into iPhoto so I could update my blog.

Our holiday was full of blessings including: fun gifts for all, time with friends and family, church fun, down time with Daddy, and celebrating Jesus.

Obligatory Santa photo:

We waited in line forever to see this guy. Lila told him she wanted real pixie dust so she could fly - great, that'll happen! She also asked for Sprayza (a cool marker set advertised on Nick) and an Easy Bake Oven. Emma wanted a bell from his sleigh - hmmm, watch Polar Express much? She also asked for Blendy Pens (another marker set as seen on TV) and an mp3 player.

Christmas Eve:

The girls sang with our Kingdom Kids choir at all four church services - 1, 3, 5, and 7!! We were at church from 12:30 until 7:30, but it was great to celebrate God's gift to us with our church family. The kids had a super time with an all-day Christmas party in one wing of the church. They had food, movies, activities and games with all of their friends all day. Ryan and I helped manage the kids and enjoyed the company of our closest friends. Emma sang a solo for the last two services. She sounded as beautiful as she looked, and we were so proud of her. Lila was a trooper and entertained the congregation four times with her adorable-yet-emabarassing, scarf swinging shenanigans.

We went to Aunt Becca's house after church for our traditional Christmas Eve "snacks for dinner". It was nice to relax with family after a high-strung day!

Christmas morning:

Emma woke up not feeling well, but rallied after a ginger ale and some presents. Gappy and Grammy came over at 8 for the festivites. Aunt Becca came a bit later, and we had a yummy breakfast and played with new toys - wii games, games, books, doll stuff, art supplies, movies, electronics - wow!

We ended the holiday with a fabulous dinner at my mom and dad's. Uncle Rob and Aunt Meghan joined us, as did my Uncle Barry and his family.

Ryan took off a few days over the rest of break, and we did pretty much nothing. That was wonderful - and very unusual for us!! We stayed in jammies, played with the girls, worked on projects, and stayed low key. Ahhh...