New Beginnings--the fresh start after the storm. Follow along as we dedicate our lives to God after blessing us with a new beginning and another chance to make things right.
The last few days have been full of giggling silly kids, as well as a husband who has spent some time right in there having fun with them. It's been tough getting up and going to work this week while everyone is on Christmas break having fun.
Bill & kids went shopping this last week to finish up some last minute items and get some things done around the house. It seemed it was a hat Christmas. Ryan bought himself a hat as well as Bill. Of course it only got sillier as the night went on....
Christmas Eve started off with a great ride to work with my good friend Katie. Being we work different hours, we can't ride together, but shorter hours on Christmas Eve permits us one ride a year to work together! The hour drive seemed like minutes while we caught up on the ride in. A short day at work, and then home early to finish up a few things, get a nap, and head to Christmas Eve Service.
Christmas Eve Service at Creekside has been great the last two years. While it's usually Silent Night that sends tears down my face, I was totally taken off guard while Pastor Tom was reading the Christmas Story. He related how Christ was born in a barn...among all the other sacrifices. Sheep, Cattle...what a lump I got in my throat, and my eyes filled up to spilling within seconds. It was a beautifully simple service, and I am ever so grateful for our Calvary family. It is always nice to slow down, and spend some time remembering the real reason for CHRISTmas.
After the services, we drove around to look at some Christmas lights, and then home to get settled and head to bed. It is the first time in the last 15 years that we have been to bed before Midnight! We also slept until 7:30 before Kristin was meandering through the hallway. I knew our kids were growing when they said "Mom & Dad, we want you to open your gifts to each other first". I quickly found their motive, when I opened up a beautiful new lens for my camera. Oh man was I happy!
We continued opening, and Kristin got her boots, and her comforter, as well as a manicure set and a foot bath, and a hat from her brother.
We surprised Ryan with all the accessories for the guitar he's been saving for.
Bill got the tabletop popcorn popper he's been looking at for awhile,as well as the family got a nice amish popper from my parents.After all was said and done, we had some happy kids. We watched a movie, had our traditional cinnamon rolls, and then we took a break to clean up and get dinner in the oven. Ryan went upstairs, and it appeared that Santa left his guitar in his room!! For those of you that don't know, Ryan has been saving for his guitar since before his birthday. Many of you sent him checks for his birthday, and his dream is now complete. We kicked the rest in as his Christmas present, and got a great deal on the coast for the package set.
We got dinner in the oven, and Bill & I settled in for our Christmas nap! We woke to the wonderful smell of ham and cream cheese potatoes!
After a great dinner, Bill & I headed out to the trailer to take inventory for our upcoming trip. The kids & I are so excited to get out camping again....as school & full time work, have kept us home. June was our last trip out....and we are so anxious!
The rest of the evening has found Kristin painting with her new watercolor set, Ryan & Bill both reading (Ryan got the last three books in his favorite series), and I've had a blast with my new lens today, putting pictures online and blogging. I hope you enjoy the pictures! I've also shared my special gift from Kristin below the slide show.
Saturday, we were blessed to be able to have family pictures taken by Dani, who also goes to church with us. She has her own business, Blind Faith Photography and was fun to work with. What is amazing about this gal, is she is legally blind!! Check out her facebook page which I linked above. We were squeezed into the end of the day, and fortunate to have been included in this all day shoot. These ladies (also our friend Brooke worked on this) were out at Creekside from 8:30 until 5:30--long day! We only wished we'd have gotten there during the day,as we saw some incredible shots from earlier in the day, but it was dark when we arrived...so all of our shots were inside. Some of us were less than happy to be there, but did oblige me, as they knew it was important to me. It's been 11 years since we've done a family photo! Kristin was 8 months old last time around!! The kids were cooperative, but very ready to go by the time we were done...as was Dad!
Thanks Dani & Brooke for sharing your day with all of us, for doing what you love for a good cause!
Incredible... That sums up my birthday weekend to the coast with Bill.
I took off Friday from work, and Bill had a class until noon, so I headed to Salem with him, and dropped him at school. I headed to my favorite car wash/detail place and had the Suburban washed, inside and out. The do everything short of washing the carpets....all for $30.00. Amazing. And you know, clean cars drive better and get better gas mileage!! At any rate, it was a beautiful sunny morning, a bit cool, but a great day to be heading to the coast. I did some shopping, and then picked Bill up at Noon, and we headed West. We were in Lincoln City by 1:30, and decided to hit the outlets first. After some shopping there, we headed down the coast to our favorite place in Depot Bay, the Sea Hag. A wonderful dinner, a beautiful sunset, and overall a great day!
We headed to Newport and checked into our hotel. We spent the rest of the evening in, playing our favorite game, Nancy Drew Mysteries! (Exciting I know--but this is edited for prime time viewing). We woke on Saturday to a beautiful view off our balcony, sun on the Pacific. We headed out for breakfast (one floor up--nice!) and enjoyed a leisurely morning. After a nice nap, we headed into town and picked up a few more Christmas items, and then headed to Old Town Newport for dinner at the Rogue Brewery. Another fine meal, and then a walk down through Old Town. We were pleasantly surprised to catch the Christmas Boat Parade through the Bay, and I was wishing that we had gotten the room on the Bay, as we would have been able to watch the whole thing from inside. As beautiful as it was, it was COLD on the water...so we didn't stay long. I was sad I didn't have my camera.
Sunday we headed out for Breakfast, then came back to pack up and head home. It seems we can never relax long on the day we head home, plus we wanted to get home and get the truck unloaded before Kids were snooping around in the bags we had! It was a wonderful weekend. This week has brought lots of bustle around here. Kids in several directions, trying to get some sewing done for Christmas gifts, trying to get some decorating done, but was blessed yesterday when I came home from work early with a bad cough. Kristin had spent the morning making a Sugar Rub. She found all the ingredients at home, mixed them and put them in a pretty jar. She said "Mom--you're having a pedicure"...so after a short nap, I had the best pedicure ever! That sugar rub was awesome AND smelled SO yummy!! The best part was Kristin said "AND mom if you really want, everything in it is edible! Sugar, honey, olive oil, extracts--all good stuff!" Being it was designed for a foot rub, I couldn't bring myself to taste it!!
Today I called into work sick. While I don't feel bad, my cough is horrible, and its tough to do my job on the phones while coughing! I did get out to get more cold medicine while Bill worked on his final for his online class, and Kristin & I did get a tree. Thank heavens for Teen Challenge guys....we said "That one"....and it appeared on the top of our truck and home we went. It was an exhausting trip, and after some cough meds, it was into bed for a nap! Feeling better tonight, but still coughing like crazy. Prayers for the cough to go away would be wonderful!
As we enter the busy season of preparing for the holidays, we pray everyone stays healthy, stays focused on the reason for Christmas, and enjoys their family! Until next update....keep smiling!
The last two days were sad ones....yesterday was sad, because we knew today was coming. I woke up yesterday, feeling that weepy feeling I get when it's time for us to say "goodbye".
Thursday was great, spending the day together, and watching movies, just relaxing and enjoying each other.
Friday, the tone was different. Hustling to pack, ridding up the house, getting ready to leave. Since Tam & Eric's flight was at 6 AM...we decided to head to Portland the day before. So after all the packing, around Noon, we headed North, to Portland. We checked into the hotel, and headed off to check out Powell's Bookstore. While it was out of our comfort zone.....we had a great time there, and Kristin & Ryan both found books they couldn't live without. Kristin bought a whole series, and has almost burned through one book already! We then headed a few blocks over to check out a toy store that was on the "must see" sights of Portland...but parking was horrible!! We came to an area where police were marking off the road. I looked down the street and saw we were almost to Pioneer Square, where the annual Christmas Tree lighting was to take place. No wonder it was packed!! We decided to head on out of Portland, back over near the airport, get some dinner, and let the kids go swim in the pool.
We spent a fun evening together, and after the pool, spa and showers, we all piled into one room to watch some TV, and visit some more before the dreaded bedtime. Since they were taking the 4:30 shuttle to the airport, we called it a night around 10:45.
At 4:15 this morning...we were all again back in Tam & Eric's room, giving teary eyed goodbyes....boy did this week fly by. There was so much we didn't do because of weather and schedules, but all in all, it was a great week...and spending time together is what it was all about anyway.
After the shuttle left...we all crawled back into bed, and slept until almost 9am! We headed down for Breakfast, the kids hit the pool while I packed up, and we were off by around 10:30ish. We hit the outlets on the way home, and then stopped for lunch. We arrived here about 3:00. It was a mopey day for all of us.
As I headed downstairs tonight to refill my water bottle...I found this: This note board was a huge game for Eric & Kristin. She had "Kristin loves Mom" on there when they arrived. Eric erased Mom and put Uncle Eric....Kristin would erase it, and put Mom back. It went on several times. Tonight when I went for water...I found this. UGH..heartbreaking. Guess we're all missing the Jenkins'.
Until next time....
We are missing you Tammy,Eric,Erica & Nick. We love you!
We are blessed beyond measure....especially this year, as my sister and family are here with us. It has been an incredible week, nothing much exciting, just blessed to be able to spend time together, laugh, enjoy the snow, enjoy the coast, enjoy the visiting.
Today was a "Kick Back" kind of day. While Tam & I puttered in the kitchen a lot, we still managed to have coffee, visit, eat, get a nap...it was a good morning and afternoon. The kids have enjoyed being downstairs in their own territory....playing WII together, just hanging out, and having fun. Instead of lunch...we had a veggie tray and some spinach dip....then it was off to nap land for an hour or so...probably more of the 'so'!! It's been great!! We had a Catch Phrase game in the livingroom before dinner....it was tons of fun, and so funny to hear them all giggle and laugh. We had dinner around 6, as our turkey wasn't frying as fast as it should....but turned out SOOOOO good!! We enjoyed turkey, potatoes (made skinny style...no one noticed!), gravy, sweet potatoes, spinach salad, Aunt Erma's pink stuff, green bean casserole, and rolls. Nick made us all laugh with how meticulous he is when buttering a roll...it has to have the RIGHT amount of butter, and all areas must be covered!!
Actually, in reflecting today, it's been wonderful. We are blessed with health, everything we need to meet our needs, great family, those that love us, but most importantly, Christ, who gave us purpose to live, and a reason to do what we do every day. Thank You Lord....for the gift of your son....and thank you that we know him!
Tuesday Night Movie.... You must be fashionable in Sweet Home to get the wood.... Devils Punchbowl near Otter Crest on the Oregon Coast....
We had a lazy morning at home...getting some things rid up...as 8 people in one house make a mess!! Everyone pitched in, and within a hour we were ready to head out to the coast.
Bill was late getting out of school...so we had lunch in Lebanon, and just as we were eating, he called and said he was on his way. We were pulling up to the light by the park & ride lot at the same time he was getting off the freeway....you can't get much better than that!!
We all piled in, and headed to the coast. We hit some slush on the highest hill on the way over, but other than that, it was a smooth and dry ride over, with even some sun breaks!! We arrived at the coast, and it was partly sunny, a little windy and very cold!
Devil's Punchbowl State Park Tam, Nick, Eric & Erica Bill, Kristin, Shawnna & Ryan Bill found a Fox Hat Whale Watching at the Whale Center in Depot Bay A pretty sunset in Depot Bay
We managed to spend some time at some pretty sites, hit downtown Depot Bay, the Whale Watching center, and round it out with a great dinner at Gracie's Sea Hag....with the BEST clam chowder ever! The kids were treated to a song on the bottles!
We had a great waitress that really made it fun for us. After our fill of clam chowder, we piled into the Suburban, headed toward Newport, grabbed peppermint mochas and peppermint hot chocolate at Starbucks and headed home.
We stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things for Thanksgiving, and headed home to settle in to watch a movie. Great day...great company.
Nick wanted to go to Michigan because of SNOW...but SNOW came to NICK!! It started last night with icy pellets, which froze....and then we got snow on top of it. Bill headed off to school without even looking at the school web site...and when he called to say buses probably would not be running, I checked Chemeketa's site, and it showed closed....so I called Bill back, and had him turn around. He made it less than 7 miles in 25 minutes. He turned around and made it back in about 20...it usually takes us less than 10. Sweet Home also called off school. Everyone gets to be home today...YAHOO!!All four kids were up by 7ish...waiting for Tam & Eric to get up so they could head into the trailer to get winter gear for everyone. They watched a movie until then...anxious to get outside. Once all bundled up...out they went, excited, giggling, laughing, and just having a great time. Bill aired up all the inner tubes...and off they went. Lots of fun...some great times, and LOTS of memories.
We are on trip three outside, and in between this last trip...the girls made each other up....MiMi style!! Fun times. Just enjoying each other, relaxing, and watching the snow as it is still falling...
My sister Tammy & her family arrived yesterday morning. We have been apart almost two years....way too long! The forecast was calling for rain, but we were blessed with sunshine as soon as we got to the airport. We had a nice sunny drive home, and then it clouded over. Oh well, we enjoyed what we got!
We spent the afternoon visiting, and also enjoyed a visit from Nate & Katie, along with my favorite girls...Allie and Audrie. We even got the kids to hang home with Audrie, while we adults went out for dinner.
This morning, we headed to church, then headed home to awesome omelets, with fresh eggs! While we were making lunch, it started to snow! We got the kids out on the porch for a picture, and before long, it was snowing so hard that Sweet Home disappeared!! It wasn't long before I was "WHAPPED" with a slushy snowball by my loving son, and much giggling followed! He's hoping for a snow day tomorrow...but I doubt that is going to happen!
Off for a short nap, and then kids to Youth Group. They had a great time tonight, and were blessed beyond measure. Nothing huge these last two days....just enjoying being together! Kids having a great time, and have staked out the familyroom/basement as their own territory!!
