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!
