Christmas in Iowa

Trace and Aunt Shelli

Cousins

Andrew, Aunt Shelli and Matthew

Sisters

Dad's Birthday Gifts

Christmas Cookies with Grandma Sue and Jada

Kids with Jada

New PJs

Dad and Sue with new calendar

Christmas Eve fun

Bruxen with his new ATV

Nana Bear

Kaylee

Cousins

Cook's with their new calendar

Our new sign Becki made us

Rubber band bracelet making fun

Bruxen

Buddies

Bryker and Trace with their new toys

"All I Want for Christmas are My Two Front Teeth"

Grandma's new sweater and scarf

Rylan and Trace

Lego time

Lego time

Our Christmas in Iowa was wonderful and yet exhausting. We had six separate Christmas celebrations with afternoon and evening plans most day. We are blessed with many people to love and who love us in return!

Trip in Review:

• Saturday, Dec 21st- Arrived in Cedar Rapids and spent a relaxing evening with Mom and Dad Cook with a surprise visit from The Langfald family. They were supposed to be up north all weekend, but due to a snow storm brewing they headed back early. Bryker ended up spending the night, which thrilled Trace.
• Sunday, Dec 22nd- Went to church and then headed to Stacie's house to celebrate Christmas with Shelli before she flew back to Florida later that afternoon. Trace got a Superman costume, Kianna got glow in the dark beads she had been wanting and Kaylee got money towards a new scooter. Stacie surprised the ladies with an embroidered Thirty One bag, which I love! The girls had fun making rubber band bracelets with Aliyah, while Trace had fun playing with Rylan. We had a nice time visiting with family before heading over to The Flender's house where our old small group was gathering. Kaylee reconnected with her friend, Chloe and has been anxious to skype with her ever since returning to Michigan. It was fun catching up with friends. 
• Monday, Dec 23rd- Spent the morning with Sam and Bryker at The Playstation. The kids had a blast playing while we enjoyed visiting with Sam. From there, we caught up with my old friend, Jamie Ross and her family. Their family just moved from Mississippi to St. Louis, MO in October. It had been four years since we had last seen each other. After a quick visit, we headed over to my dad and Sue's house for the rest of the day. Sue had sugar cookie dough ready for the kids to roll out, bake and decorate. The kids had fun making cookies with their cousin, Jada. We spent the rest of the day visiting, opening gifts, and playing games. My dad plays a mean game of ping pong. Trevor tried to take him down, but couldn't...
• Tuesday, Dec 24th (Christmas Eve) - Trevor spent the morning doing his Christmas shopping and the rest of the day was spent over at The Langfald's house for our Christmas celebration. Sam had some fun games ready for the kids to play including pin the tail on the reindeer, Christmas bingo, and a cookie decorating contest. We ate the night away, while the kids enjoyed their new gifts. Trace and Bryker each got a Nerf Box-N-Arrow, which they LOVE. The girls each got new Lego kits and rubber band bracelet looms. They wasted no times getting started making rubber band bracelets. 
• Wednesday, Dec 25th (Christmas Day) - Santa filled our stockings while we slept and delivered them from Michigan to Iowa. We had fun opening our stockings and then had some yummy monkey bread. We had a relaxing morning and then spent the afternoon at Stacie's house for more cousin time, gifts, and yummy food. The kids made out big yet again. The night ended with Trace having a sleepover at Bryker's house and Aliyah spending the night with the girls. 
• Thursday, Dec 26th- Aliyah spent the day with us. We did a little shopping and then headed over to spend the afternoon with The Issa family. The kids had fun playing together, while the adults visited. The kids spent the evening with Grandma Becki, while Trevor and I joined up with Anthony and Julie for a night out. We had a nice dinner out and watched the new Hobbit movie. It was a nice night with friends. 
• Friday, Dec 27th- The kids and I picked up Grandma Carie and spent the afternoon at my mom's house. The kids had fun playing with Aliyah and Rylan, while I enjoyed visiting with my mom and Grandma. It was a relaxing afternoon. The evening was spent at the Russell Christmas Party. We enjoyed visiting with family. 
• Saturday, Dec 28th- We spent the afternoon at The Langfald's house for more cousin time. Unfortunately, Kaylee was not feeling well and spent the day lying down with a tummy ache and slight fever. She spent the evening watching movies with Grandma Becki, while the rest of us met up with The Kruid family. We had a nice meal out with them and then headed to The Playstation for some fun.
• Sunday, Dec 29th- Thankfully Kaylee woke up feeling fine and we headed back to Michigan. We had a great time in Iowa, but it is good to be back home. The kids although reluctant to leave Iowa after a week of being spoiled are excited to begin the joy of playing with their new stuff. Legos here they come...

Family Christmas #1

Our three precious kids

Coupon Book

Kaylee's Joseph

Kianna's Baby Jesus

Trace's New Sheets

Trace's New Bed

Kianna's New iPod Touch

Kaylee's New iPad

Pretty excited

Girls with their new devices

Mommy's new coat, scarf and gloves

My Superheroes

Batman Squared 

We decided to have our own family Christmas celebration with the kids prior to leaving for Iowa. Daddy came home early from work and we let the kids each open a few gifts before heading out to dinner at Red Lobster. On our way to dinner, we played with Kaylee's new game. It is a conversation game. It is full of questions which each person takes turns answering. The kids love hearing Trevor and I tell stories, so it is a game with a lot of potential...

Our meal was delicious, although Trevor's fish ended up not being fully cooked. To apologize, the manager gave us Trevor's meal for free and remade it for him (even though he had already eaten all of the shrimp). He also let us pick out two complimentary desserts while we waited for Trevor's meal to be remade. The kids and I were giddy over the yummy desserts!!!

After dinner, we resumed unwrapping gifts. Let me preface this by saying that this year was a VERY expensive Christmas as both Kaylee and Trace were in "need" of some pricey items. Kaylee got the new iPad Air for Christmas as it is required for 4th and 5th grade. We figured if she needed it for school next year we might as well let it be a Christmas present. Kianna got Daddy's old iPhone, which she ecstatically calls her iPod Touch. We found a really neat custom made case for it. It has an owl and her name on it. She couldn't have been more thrilled. Trace was in need of a new bed and dresser, since he was still in a toddler bed and had the changing table as his dresser. He got some super hero sheets and a new comforter to go with his bed. Although he likes these items, his favorite present of the night was his Millennium Falcon Lego case complete with a few lego guys. He LOVES lego guys and now he has a place to keep them. 

In art class, the girls made Trevor and I a piece to their nativity sets. This year we got Baby Jesus in his manger from Kianna (her first piece) and Joseph from Kaylee (her third piece). Kaylee also made us a coupon book. My favorite coupon is the one saying that she will fold one basket of laundry for me. I love these handmade gifts. They are priceless! Trevor's favorite gift of the night had to of been his new Batman pajamas. We got some cute pictures of Trace and Daddy in their superhero outfits.

Personally, I struggle with the balance between celebrating the true meaning of Christmas, Christ's birth, with the commercialism of giving gifts. I enjoy shopping and trying to find the "perfect" gift for everyone and yet feel that all that takes away from the PERFECT gift which we have already been given. To keep our focus on Christ, we continued with our tradition of watching "The Nativity Story" together as a family. We are truly blessed!

Sad News

Saying Goodbye

Sad Girls

Today we had to say goodbye to our dog, Snuggles. It was not exactly ideal timing, being right before Christmas, but it had been in the works for a couple of months. I guess it is what it is. We have had Snuggles for almost exactly two years. He has been a dog with a lot of issues. The main one being that he has too many accidents in the house. Also, we are gone a lot and feel that he would do better with a family that is around more. We found a good home for him and they came and got him this morning.

We had some tearful goodbyes and will miss him. We wish it would have worked out to keep him, but are happy we found him a good home. We tried to keep the kids busy this evening, to keep their minds off of Snuggles. We made a Gingerbread Train to pass the time. The kids had fun. However, after seeing the mess underneath my table, I was missing Snuggles. He never let any crumbs go to waste and there were many to be had. It looks like I'll be getting the vacuum out a bit more now that he is gone...

LCS Christmas Programs

Kianna's class- she is in the back row, 4th in line.

Kaylee as a Christmas Tree

Christmas Trees

Kaylee's Program

Trace's class, he is in the back row on the very end. 

Natalie and Trace

Caiden and Trace

Who knew the wisemen and shepherds took each other down?

Trace and Abram

Kaylee and Kianna had their school programs last night. Kianna's class sang a bunch of songs along with the Kindergarteners. She really did a great job with all of the songs and their actions.

Kaylee's class combined with the 2nd graders and did a small play. Kaylee was a Christmas tree hoping to get chosen by Santa to be his very own tree. She had a few lines to memorize and did a great job. She is funny to watch because she really gets into it and shows lots of personality. For example, she had a mirror in her hands and was looking into it saying what a beautiful tree she was while she was pretending to style her hair. It was really cute. Acting may be in her future...

Trace had his Christmas program this morning. He was a wiseman and had two lines to memorize. He said "Where is he who has been born King of the Jews" and "For unto you is born this day a savior who is Christ the Lord". He worked hard on memorizing his lines and his little voice sounded so cute when he said them. He was very proud of himself. It was precious!

Toledo Zoo

Trevor's work party this year was at the Toledo Zoo. We met in a pavilion for hot cocoa and cookies, visited with friends, and then sang a few Christmas carols before heading out into the cold to enjoy the lights. It was such a fun evening and the lights were amazing as usual!

Christmas Program

Three of my favorite little people.

Trace is on the far right.

Kaylee is on the right.

Kianna saying her lines.

Proud Parents

Our little stars

Mrs. Banks came to watch Kianna's program

The kids had their Christmas program at church today. They all did a great job. Trace sang some songs. Kianna was dressed up like a shepherd and did a great job memorizing her verses, "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, which was just as they had been told." She had practiced hard and did a fantastic job. Kaylee had one of the lead roles in their skit. She played a girl named Noelle and had quite a few lines to memorize. This was her first time in a play with so many lines.  She spoke with lots of personality. I think we may have a budding actress on our hands. It was a fun morning.

Thanksgiving 2013

Kianna's teacher let her borrow this adorable pilgrim costume for the holiday.

Kid table

Adult table

Lexie and Kianna

Thanksgiving Skit

Silly Kids

Mommy and Kaylee

This year we spent Thanksgiving with our good friends, Ryan, Jamie, Lexie and Natalie Johnson; and Jamie's parents who were visiting from Iowa. We ate lots of yummy food and we adults played a card game called Hand and Foot. Our kids had each been learning about the pilgrims and the first thanksgiving at school. Kianna especially was very interested in the pilgrims and put together a Thanksgiving skit. Her teacher, Mrs. Banks let her borrow a pilgrim costume. Kianna was so proud of her costume. It was precious! The Thanksgiving Skit was a little bit rough around the edges, but entertaining nonetheless. It was a very fun day with friends.

The following day we took the kids to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen", which was very entertaining. We will definitely be purchasing that movie when it is released. We LOVED it! Following the movie, we met the Johnson's at The Centre pool and let the kids swim for awhile. Can we say SPOILED!

On Saturday, we got our Christmas decorations up. The kids were really excited to help this year. Kaylee especially loved hearing the stories behind each ornament. It went pretty well. We only had one wise men lose his head, but it wasn't anything a little super glue couldn't fix. That evening, we went out to dinner at The Dog House, a hot dog restaurant. They have about every potential hot dog combination you could think of. Two of the kids had macaroni and cheese hot dogs, the other one had a cheesy potato hot dog, I had a reuben hot dog, and Trevor had a four alarm hot dog. It was a fun place. We had a lot of good family time this weekend and really enjoyed our time together. We are truly blessed and have so much to be thankful for. Here are a few things I am thankful for:

• Trevor- I have a wonderful husband, who is very supportive. He helps me remember to lighten up and laugh. He is a good balance for me, as he tends to me more lighthearted and I tend to be a bit more serious. I love him very much and we have fun together.
• Kaylee- She is a very smart little girl. She is very thoughtful and responsible. You tell her something one time and she remembers it. I love that about her! She likes to play games and cuddle up and watch Hallmark movies with me. 
• Kianna- She is very fun loving and generous. She is wonderful to her little brother. They have a good relationship. She is very lighthearted and sensitive. She loves to have fun. She is very smart and really likes math. We have fun doing her math magazines together and cuddling on the couch. 
• Trace- He is a bundle of energy inside a little body. He is all boy and likes to run nearly everywhere he goes. He loves to rough house with Daddy. He is often seen tackling big kids in the hallway at school while on his way to pick up his sisters. He loves to laugh and have fun. We have fun playing games, doing puzzles and reading books together.
• Warm Cozy House- So thankful for our furnace on this cold winter day.
• Health- We are all in good health, which is a HUGE blessing. We enjoy keeping active and exercising.
• My new job- I have really enjoyed building relationships with my co-workers and patients. I have learned so much and am becoming a better, more confident therapist. 
• Freedom to worship as I choose- Something that I take for granted here in America, but something that people are being persecuted for around the world. 
• Grace, Salvation, and Forgiveness- I am blessed with a savior that loves me and made the ultimate sacrifice so that I could spend eternity with him. I need his grace and forgiveness everyday and am so thankful that his love never runs out on me or those around me. 
• My kids love Jesus- This has been my ultimate goal as their mom and so far they are all on the right track to serving and loving Jesus. Praise God!
• Good friends and family- We are truly blessed to be surrounded by people that love us both here and in Iowa. 

It is good to reflect and have a grateful heart. Thank you Jesus for all my blessings, which include these and so much more!