O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

A new tradition may have been born this year. We found a great Christmas tree farm about 15 minutes away from our house. They have been growing and trimming their trees for 6 years and just opened up for business this year. They have tons of beautiful trees and anything you cut down yourself (with their very nice, sharp saws) you get to take home for about $30. Not bad! Even the beautiful noble trees were that price. And the flocked ones too.

But the thing that really sold us on the place (besides being in a beautiful valley) is that they have Santa and Mrs. Claus there, candy canes for the kids, free hot chocolate, and great 4 wheelers for the kids to ride on to their hearts content. The kids didn't want to leave the 4 wheelers to go find a tree. They had a ball! Even Katelyn drove her own (which was a little bit scary because she doesn't know how to steer or to stop). But Justin cranked the wheel so that she would always drive in a circle. Then it became Brandon and Lindsey's job to avoid hitting her.

But eventually we got back on task and quickly found a beautiful tree to take home. They bound it up tight for us, which made it very easy to get into the house without needles dropping everywhere. We will definitely be going back next year!

And to go in our new house, we bought some ornaments for our tree. Once again, thank you Costco. I love them! And I love that they are not glass! The kids were just a little bit excited to decorate the tree.

Our tree, minus that mysterious red stocking. How did that get in the picture?

Oh, and I also love that we have a place to hang our stockings this year! Hooray for fireplace mantles! (And I don't have to explain how Santa is going to get into our apartment this year.)

Decorating the whole house is going to come slowly, but I'm loving this little corner of my world!

Concert and Gingerbread

Today we enjoyed Brandon's Holiday Concert at his school. I was relieved that they did sing about Christmas a little bit more than "We wish you a merry holiday." That was their first song, but their last one was "We wish you a merry Christmas." He did a great job and held really still for being on the top risers for 30 minutes of singing.

When we got home we had fun making gingerbread houses. They turned out pretty cute!

Here is Katelyn's house, made with my help, but she did all of the decorating herself.

Here is Lindsey's creation that she proudly made after I helped her get the house standing. Apparently there is a little gingerbread man that lives here, but he isn't home right now because his house caught on fire and he had to move everything out. That's why it is empty inside.

And Brandon made his all by himself. It is actually a gingerbread spaceship, and the candies out front are footprints of a dog, cat, lion and cheetah that want to go up into outer space apparently. Brandon had quite a long explanation about it.

And I just couldn't resist taking a stab at it.

Hooray for Christmas time!

Daddy

We sure do

LOVE

our Daddy!

*I just love this picture I caught of the crew last Saturday morning!

Just Checking In

Yesterday I spent the morning up in Seattle at the hospital. Our ultrasound and visit with the doctor and ultrasound ladies was relatively uneventful. They found some interesting things with the amount of fluid he has in his body that they want to keep an eye on in addition to his other conditions.

Other than that, things seem to be holding at the same levels. We learned more about what to expect when he is born, which will include him being taken immediately to the NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) and possibly a surgery immediately on his heart to help it work until he is a little bit bigger for the open heart surgery. We will get to tour the NICU after Christmas, so I am sure we will learn much more about what to expect at that time.

Now, please forgive this very personal story. But it is something that I feel impressed to share:

I believe that the Lord has blessed me with hymns in my mind to bring me comfort on this journey. I have had several times when this has happened, and I am so grateful for it because music has always uplifted me, strengthened my testimony and brought me great joy in my life. And at this particular time, they bring me great comfort.

After I got back from my appointments and got the girls home yesterday we enjoyed some quiet time. I had the hymn "Be Still, My Soul" in my mind. I sat down at the piano and tried to sing along, but the tears made it too hard. I continued playing it with the words in my mind.

1. Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Katelyn came up and sat on the piano bench with me. She looked up and noticed that I had tears streaming down my face. She jumped down and ran off. When she came back, she had my nice kitchen towel in hand. She proceeded to climb up onto my lap, facing me, to wipe my tears. She said, "Mommy, I'm going to make you happy." Then she kept saying over and over, "It will be okay Mommy." At that point, I couldn't play anymore and I just held her close. When I looked at her again, she had a few tears on her cheeks too.

What a sweet experience! Sometimes little two-year-olds can say the most profound, grown-up things. I know that so many times the Lord helps us through other people, even little children.

I know it will be okay, just like Katelyn said. And I want you all to know that we have frequent experiences like this one with little evidences that we are not alone and that the Lord is very aware of us and is helping us down this road. The road will be long, but I am confident with the help of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ we will be able to do anything, we will be successful, and will be much better people for it.

We are anxious to meet our little guy!

Lindsey's Christmas Program

On Tuesday night we were able to go to Lindsey's Christmas program for her preschool. Since it is run at a Lutheran church and is a private school from preschool-4th grade, they can actually talk about Christmas. It is interesting how everything I get from Brandon's school is "Winter" this and "Holiday" that. So when Brandon comes home I get to talk with him about what this time of year is really about. And I get to teach him that the real words to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" aren't "We Wish You a Merry Holiday." It was refreshing to see Lindsey participate in "Away in a Manger." Yet another thing we are adjusting to here.

She is in the whitish sweater towards the right side.

She did a good job and it was so cute to watch her up on stage.

Way to go Lindsey!