A White Christmas

I should say...in MI.  We left Tulsa anticipating ice, thankfully making it there before any fell.  The ice did come followed closely by a lot of snow.  The shoreline of lake Mi was ever changing with the wind and snow.  Icebergs with caves and crashing waves were very fun and interesting to explore. The beautiful coastline was stunning...but COLD!  Just a couple pictures-with all the snow and family there was a lot of fun!  It was a full Christmas in MI.

First came the ice-it was so slick out, impossible to walk.  Within an hour snow began to fall making it tolerable to walk...and play!

 Everything was covered and stayed covered in snow-two days till the sun shown through and melted some of the beauty away.

Moving Day

I am not sure how all this came to happen over the holidays but it seems that God's plans are quite different than I had imagined.  I am not so sure why we plan, as basically everything I thought or worried about has happened in a much different fashion...and not in a bad way.  We found a wonderful house for our family-such a perfect fit for all the kids and stuff that comes with all of us.  The entire process was much less than exciting than what I imagined-the emotions ran from excitement, sadness and mostly just general worry overcome with the heaviness of making such a big decision. It was amazing to me how the dark emotions can take over so easily.  We sorted and boxed endlessly, both Ron and I made visits to the local Walmart in the middle of the night seeking boxes from the third shift workers/unpackers.  Now I am not so sure what we are going to do with all of them as they get unpacked...what a mess!

 Our Bedroom became the general holding area for boxes packed in advance, it is amazing to me what we fit in closets thinking we should save!  Weeding out multiple junk drawers, electronics, was something I could only tackle one at a time...even then most of the time I would get distracted and would end up working in another totally different closet!  How thankful I am for the multiple donation trucks willing to stop by our house and pick up all our unwanted stuff.

The bathroom is in the middle of being redone...just in time for us to move out!  Thankfully our neighbors recommended a painter who seems up to the task-he already painted three rooms in the new house.  It is amazing to me how fast and efficient they work.  By the time I get set up I would need to either feed kids or drive kids somewhere!

For those of you who have not seen the computer room....this is clean, no extra computer towers/keyboard and most-no cables everywhere!

Slowly the front room also filled with boxes-almost ready to go.

Den, cleaned out and ready to go.

 Morning of moving-all linens off the beds last morning at the house for the kids...they didn't seem to care much.  I don't think James could believe it was finally happening.  He had been helping pack and clean for weeks all the time I talked about moving to the new house but we would always stay at the old house-something  that confused him.

 

The back yard looks sad and lonely without the tramp-it was still loaded with snow when we went to take it down.

 Moved on out.  Three guys and a truck.  I was not at the house for the initial start of the move and I am glad I wasn't...it was pretty harsh walking in and seeing it look empty/bare...dirty!

We had a big ice-storm at the time of moving...did I say none of our decision were correct!  We ended up moving two days later.  This was such a blessing.  I had time to move the kitchen and closets prior to the big day-giving me time to do a little organizing, giving me a little sanity on moving day, although the first meal eaten in the house was McDonalds and it was on the floor.

If you can believe our entire house fit into this truck.  It was pretty unnerving to see it pull away knowing it help everything that was in our house.  Even more so as it backed up the hill in front of our new house about tipping causing the workers to park in the street so things weren't so off kilter with the slope of the driveway.  They worked from 9am and finished up and with a light load of outdoor stuff around 6pm.
Amazingly the new house feels like home-the layout, although bigger is similar so furniture layout was pretty easy.  Both kids and animals are at ease.  How thankful I am that the house was move in ready and except for the first morning spent without electricity things have been fairly smooth.
 God truly watches over us!  How I should never doubt or for that matter rely on my human cognitive thinking.  Moving takes physical work but much more mental/emotional work.  Between relying on the Lord and working through things as husband and wife this move has not only given us a wonderful house to grow into but helped us strengthen our foundation in the Lord and as a family.  Who knew what the adventures, ups and downs of moving could bring!?

Christmas Musical "Back to the Manger"

The kids have a new music teacher this year-not new to school but new to the music position.  The kids love her and she is just amazing at what she teaches the kids.  This year she did a Christmas musical with the 2nd and 3rd grades.  The had so many practices but the music was a ton of fun so the kids never complained.  I was amazed at all the memorizing the main characters did.  Most fun was hearing all the music from the different time periods.  I have to say the 80's got the most reaction from the crowd.  Becca is in a blue poodle skirt and Braydens was tie/dye 60's....hard to see but fun music.

http://wordmusic.com/kids/christmas/back-to-the-manger.html

Okay, my 60's video is not uploading...hopefully Ron can figure it out because Brayden was all about the dance in this song!

Happy Birthday Becca

The big day finally arrived-Becca's Birthday.  Yes, there was another big day...moving day, (which was Thurdays and will have to be another post) but that was not the day being counted down on our computer. Friday she came home with a special envelope of cards made by her classmates-she could hardly contain her excitement waiting to open and read them all.  Saturday they were up bright and early, listening to Space Commander Zoom sing happy birthday.  If you can believe it we were out the door and off to the airport to pick-up a huge surprise...Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Dave, Peter and Jack!  How fun watching the plane land and then seeing them all arrive in Tulsa.  Once again the time just marched along and the day fly on by.  We managed a trip to the Philibrook-perfect timing for the  Free Admission along with kid crafts.  Enjoyable for the kids and adults as Christmas decorations were in full swing.  Becca did have to sit through Brayden's first basketball game ( a lost but made one basket...one of few) seeing as most everyone wanted to take advantage of being able to actually see him play...she would have preferred to stay home, but nothing to complain about getting to sit with Grandma and Grandpa in the stands.  The day continued with the house filling up with friends coming to wish her happy birthday.  The moment she had been waiting for-cake/ice cream and presents!  What a party-all the kids were flying high, Ron and I were just exhausted...but totally happy.  We are blessed with such a special family and friends.  Lots of change but still a solid foundation making life exciting.

Funny moment was realizing Ron had picked up a box at the old house, not realizing it was a birthday present.  Too many boxes!

Saturday Fun

With the snow sticking around along with some very cold temps most of our plans were once again put aside with the day spent enjoying the beauty of winter.  Somehow I think living in the moment is something we easily forget-although it seems a little exhausting after today.  Ron spent most all of his day working and riding at his last cyclocross race sponsored by Young Life.  With a morning of eight degrees and an afternoon with only temps in the 20's it was a super cold race.  Everyone survived-except for Ron who took a header over the bike popping a bunch of spokes, but still able to finish the race on a spare mountain bike.  The kids didn't do a lot of cheering at this race-instead spent most of their time sledding.

I was shocked that even Andrea stayed outside sledding during the race-it was freezing.  Thankfully I had picked up some hand warmers which helped a bunch.  After today I am soooo glad we live here in OK and do not have these cold temps longer than a week at a time!

The highlight of today was all the sledding.  We hit up the ORU sledding hill where the older three had a blast.  James watched from the car-content to be warm and bored.  I am always surprised at the kids energy, after being outside for good portion of the day Brayden was still wanting to take the runner sled down our hill by the house at 8 at night.  It was pure ice and looked like a ton of fun!

SNOW

The house is in boxes, moving is supposed to happen.  Instead the kids are up at the crack of dawn going crazy with the snow.  Snow Day!!  Now to just keep things packed with all kids at home.

Happy Thanksgiving

Time for some turkey and a day of taking note of our many blessings!  The past couple of days have been filled with activity and lasting memories.  Wednesday the house quickly filled up with family-my parents and Grandma were able to make it this year along with my brother David and his faithful hiking companion Maddy.  Dinner was a full table and more in abundance were the blessings, some funny some serious-always nice to take the time to remember and thank the Lord for what he has blessed us with.

 Great Grandma is keeping up with all the fun, never a dull moment and she has just enjoyed watching the kids and listening to James trying to keep up with everyone and their activies-never wanting to miss anything.

 The days have been full, some how vacation has a different meaning now that we have kids....vacation means work!  but it is all fun-just exhausting as they have endless energy.  The weather was beautiful and we have all enjoyed the outdoors.  Bike rides to the park, exploring and mountain biking at Turkey Mountain and many walks to tired out the dogs.  I think Brayden was on his scooter with friends for an entire afternoon...causing a fuss not showing back up at the house at dark-the joys of growing up and stretching the boundaries.  David brought his yard game that was fun to play, along with spud and kick ball.  Some of us explored the Philbrook Museum today while others hit the couch and rested.  Of course the weekend wouldn't be complete without a little bowling-Andrea was pretty proud not using the ramp this year.


The kids are keeping Grandma and Grandpa busy-crafts, reading, games of UNO, checkers.  Brayden was up for staying up and learning a bit of Dutch blitz and Wizard this year...I think he just thought it was fun getting to stay up way past his bed time.

 We missed having Aunt Nea around this year-although we are all pretty excited to have another baby around next year!

A Thanksgiving Play

I feel like Thanksgiving is wrapping up and Christmas is fast approaching-the kids are finishing up their projects and work having to do with Thanksgiving. Crazy!  Becca's class put together a thanksgiving play that they performed for parents last week and then friends at a nursing home this week.  Becca was Mary Brewster-a pilgrim who told about how the Indians taught them how to plant corn.  She is always full of grins and did her best to hid it when on stage-silly girl.  We finished the Friday celebration with a thanksgiving meal...which I don't think the kids ate much of!

Book Recommendation

I don't recommend books very often, as reading I think has so much to do with a persons preferences and their journey through life.  Seeing as both Ron and I both found this book to be thought provoking, encouraging; one of those books that stretches your understanding of God's will for our lives, I wanted to pass it along.  

Even though we might not have a visible "thorn in our side"  I am overwhelmed daily at the amount of pain-physical and emotional surrounding me.  Seeing and listening to how imperfect our human life is with so many struggles gives the illusion of saten's power.  This book is a great encouragement in dealing with the reality of life!  Hope you can take the time to read it.