Twelve blessings of our Christmas.

Happy New Year!
We have been so busy and doubly blessed at our house. In attempt to recap our Christmas celebration, I am breaking it down into the "Twelve blessings of our Christmas".

#1
The Christmas tree we will never forget!
Every year Derek and I cut down our tree and drag into the house only for Derek to say "I wish it was bigger". Well, this year the quote has been "I think I got it out of my system". This was by far our biggest Christmas tree to date. At 17'6" tall, it was virtually impossible to decorate the top and I almost lost a finger getting it into the stand! Lets just say, in order to decorate {and undecorate} the top of the tree, we had to slide it across the floor {in stand} and decorate from our balcony. It was anchored to the wall only to have it fall and break the original line. We took it down about a week or two earlier than we normally would have because it was beginning to shift again! It was a liability. The tree was beautiful but way too big! And yes, that is Derek using a canoe ore to adjust the star as it shifted in transit!!!
Going up....

Coming down...

#2
Tonsillectomy.
Well, you will be happy to know that I do not have any pictures from the surgery! I had my tonsils out on December 7. It was a very long time coming and I am so glad I had it done. I am about 99% and sleeping better than I have in years!
I had so many friends come to help me during my recovery. I am so blessed by the people in my life. Some of them just came and sat with me even though I was terrible company! Thank you, my dear friends!!
With my surgery came blessing #3.

#3
Visit from Grandma Cheri!
My Mom came to care for our family during my 10 day recovery. She arrived on December 10 and stayed until December 22! What a wonderful time we had! I am forever grateful for all she did for us. The girls were very sad to see their Grandma go home. She was here for so many fun things. She attended both of the girls school programs, Adah's church concert, babysitting for Derek and I to go out and other Christmastime festivities. We celebrated our Christmas with her on Saturday morning. We had a huge Daddy breakfast, opened loads of presents, went to our friend's piano recital and then went to the movies. She and I had a wonderful girls day out shopping and having lunch at Basil. It was fun to be together for so long. Thanks Grandma!!! I need to include in her time here that she ate a cricket. I can explain. My parents gave to Derek for Christmas the Man vs. Wild {Bear Grylls} series from Discovery channel. He decided that he would have a guys night here at our house and they would watch these videos. To my surprise, Derek sent an Evite out to some friends. He was surprised at the overwhelming yes response. He ended up with 15 guys in our basement! They had a great time. One of the things that Derek served to eat where bugs. We found them at a local store and bought crickets, larva and chocolate covered bugs. My Mom thought she should give them a try. Way to go, Mom. Yuck!

#4
Adah's First grade Christmas program.
Adah did a great job in her program. She sings her heart out but she definitely looks very serious while she's up there. Her friend Abby came out to watch her and then came over for hot chocolate and cookies, which is becoming a new tradition. Adah enjoyed singing at her school and also our church Christmas concert. We were very proud of her.

 

#5
Layla's Pre-School Christmas concert.
This was Layla's first concert for school. She was a joy to watch. She smiled the whole time and sang her little heart out! She was excited to have her Grandma, Mrs. M, Kristen, Michael and Lucas cheering her on! Her favorite songs were Feliz Navidad and 5 Little Snowmen. What fun.

 

#6
Second annual Ugly Sweater party.
This is quickly becoming a very fun highlight of our December. It is a time of dressing in the most hideous clothes you can find, laughing hysterically, being with great, Christian friends, and eating yummy food. Enjoy a good belly laugh as you look through these pictures.

 

#7
Christmas Eve.
We stayed here for Christmas again this year. We missed our family but it is so nice to wake up in our home and not have to travel. We enjoy many traditions in our family. Christmas eve brings our church's Christmas Eve service{after our steak dinner}, cookies and hot chocolate at our house with friends {this year it was John and Amy- what fun!}, and the girls opening one gift {there new pajamas}. After the girls are in bed, Derek and I put the gifts under the tree and fill the stockings on the fireplace mantel. I remember opening one gift on Christmas Eve and waking up on Christmas morning to cinnamon rolls when I was a little girl.

 

#8
Christmas Day!
Happy Birthday, Jesus. Since it was a quiet Christmas at our house, I was glad to have church that morning. I enjoyed worshipping the Lord and seeing everyone that day. We woke up, read the Christmas story from the book of Luke in the Bible, prayed, ate fresh cinnamon rolls, opened a few presents and then headed off to church. When we got home we changed our clothes, opened the rest of our gifts and then relaxed, played and napped that afternoon. Very relaxing. In the evening, after our big dinner with ribs, we headed to our friend's house for dessert and to play with their new puppy that they had gotten for Christmas. As we were going to bed that night, we thanked God for not only a wonderful day, but the gift of His Son, Jesus, who saves us from our sins!
The ornament below is the ornament that Derek and I made to give to our friends and family. It was a fun way to remember Little Guy this Christmas and to remind our loved ones to pray for our adoption.

 

 

#9
Donut making. YUMMY!
Every year our family makes homemade donuts. This year we made them with our friends. It was so much fun. We ate way to much, laughed a lot, and played loads of games. We love hanging out with their family and so do our girls!!!

 

#10
Family hotel stay.
Derek and I decided it would be fun to take a little mini vacation to a hotel so we could swim and hang out with our girls. We had expected to have a little more snow and since we didn't it was great to have an activity to do. We swam {and had a few friends over to swim} played cards in our room and then ordered Sam's pizza, our family favorite. It was a rough night of sleeping, but we will chalk it up for another family adventure!

 

#11
Sweet time with sweet friends.
Whenever our good friends, Todd and Julie come to town we, along with Dan and Kristy, host them. It was our turn and we had a great time talking, eating and watching our kiddos play. It's getting a lot busier as our families grow but what a blessing that is!

 

#12
New Year's Eve Party.
For the last 3 years we have enjoyed ourselves at Scott and Sue's house for a New Year's Eve bash. It is great fun. Fellowship with believers, loads of food, and games into the wee hours of the morning.

 

We are so blessed and continue to thank God for EVERYTHING in our lives...the good, the easy, the difficult, and especially the wait. He works all things for our good and His glory! Amen.