Where the love has taken us

Where has this Love taken us?

Love...
Well, some think that Valentines Day is overrated. We are some of those people. Our anniversary is February 17th so we have never really celebrated February 14th. But I thought tonight about how much I love my wonderful hubby, so I decided to make a post.

Here is where it all began. We were married on February 17th, 2001. I was the happiest I had ever been and this was the first dream that God gave me. I always dreamed of being a wife... here I was. The most exciting day of my life!

The love began. What a dream come true!

Then, this dream came true... I always wanted to be a mommy, God gave me a son... 2002

Then a daughter... 2003

Then another son... 2004

And God has blessed our family everyday since. I am so thankful for your love, Adam! Thanks also for helping make all my dreams come true. You are amazing!

Happy Valentines Day!

Rules for a Happy Marriage

My mom was going through stuff at her place and came across this. She was going to toss it but I thought that I would just post it first. Good thoughts!

1. Never both be angry at the same time

2. Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire

3. If one of you has to win an argument, let it be your mate

4. If you have to criticise, doit lovingly

5. Never bring up mistakes of the past

6. Neglect the whole world rather than each other

7. Never go to sleep with an argument unsettled

8. At least once a day try to say one kind or complimentary thing to your life's partner

9. When you have done something wrong, be ready to admit it and ask for forgiveness

10. It takes two to make a quarrel, and the one in the wrong is he one who does the most talking.

Dentist and rude awakenings!

There is Joshua, the most well behaved dentist kid I have ever seen...
Having exrays... that showed what I didn't want to see. The start of 4 small cavities. I was devistated. The dentist says if we floss regular they will probably not need filled and won't cause pain. I have tried to floss regular but never think about it. And then when we do, it hurts him becasue his teeth are so close together at the back. So it is between all his back molars that there is decay. I brush his teeth everynight and some mornings. I was feeling like such a bad mom for not being more diligent with the flossing, but now I will be!!! For sure! He won't miss a night of flossing, and the dentist showed me a little trick so it won't hurt him, so YAY! And I will do it with the other two, too. Poor kid, you know he is the one who turns down candy and pop and all sorts of stuff just becasue he didn't want any black things in his teeth... the dreaded cavities.
Duck lips, always a joy!!!
So, by this pic you would think the appointment would have gone good.
This is what we got for the rest of it. Last time she did great, this time she said everything hurt. They were brushing her teeth with that spinner thing and she was freaking out and decided she wouldn't open her mouth. We had had a really good talk about all this before hand and she still wouldn't open up. Arg! So the dentist made her a baloon poodle which I took away when we left and I didn't let her have a little treat toy at the end. The lady at the counter must have thought that I was mean, but I can't have her acting this way. It wasn't only that though, after she was done she was running around, wouldn't listen, being rude, yelling... it was not her best day!
Yet, now they are all playing like little angels, because they are my angels. I love them so much. Joshua was awesome and I just felt bad that I have not taken better care of things. Annabelle will be better next time I am sure. God bless you all!

Mommy

Hey everyone, my mom has a blog and has for a little while. If people would like the address comment or email me. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!

Amazing God!

So I wrote all this stuff below, just thoughts and revelations, then I went to Ruth's blog entry, Praise You In This Storm! God is just amazing! His timing is impeccable !

My heart...

I thank God for good friends who can somehow manage to speak life where there is defeat. I really thank God for friends who are honest, even when it hurts. I really needed someone to care for me tonight and God did send, as He always does. I read the study below after and was thinking, it is easy for me to aknowledge that God has given me all good things in my life, but it is the negative I struggle with. Can it be true that God actually preordained the fight, and through it His power will be shown. Is it true that it is in the times of hardship that He is guiding us, that he actually wants it, to help us come to a greater knowledge of Him? It is true! And I feel like, as always, God is working on my heart. Will I recieve and respond or will I allow pride to sneak in and push away the Truth. I will not allow that. I will recieve. I need to learn to lay down my rights and trust that God will do my bidding for me. I will trust that he is not going to let me fall, and he will not let my spirit be broken. I need to exalt Him above the situation as he is Lord over all and see the truth, not the lies. I need to see Him, not me, my hurt. Thank you Lord for your faithfulness and that you are the one who controls the wind and the waves in every storm, not me. Thank you that I don't need to be the one to save me. Man, I would just fail, but you will take me under your wing and I will find rest.
I Love you Ruth!

shelovesgod.com

The Antidote for a Dying Worldby Marnie Pehrson

We recently studied the unusual Old Testament book of Hosea in Sunday school. In this parable, the Lord compares Himself to a husband and Israel to an unfaithful wife. In the story, Hosea takes a wife who is unfaithful to him. She goes after other "lovers" instead of remaining faithful to her husband. Like the wife in the story, Israel has been unfaithful to God by going after gods of wood and stone.
The wife says, "I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink" (Hosea 2:6). She seeks after them, but she cannot find them. They remain elusive to her until she finally decides to go back to her husband because it was "better with him than now" (v 7).
Then the husband in the story says, "For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal." In other words, Israel took all the things God had given them and gave them to idols. Then they attributed the good they received to false gods instead of the true God.
To prove his point, when the wife returns the husband in the story holds back his abundance until the wife humbles herself. He takes her into the wilderness and speaks kind words to her and then gives her back all the good things she once had (v14-15). Verse 16 concludes "it shall be at that day saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi (husband) and shalt call me no more Baali (master).
Notice that the Lord doesn't want a "master-slave" relationship with us. He wants a "husband-wife" relationship with us. There is a big difference between the closeness and love that a husband and wife share and a master-slave relationship.
So how can we apply this parable to us today? We aren't off worshiping idols of stone and wood are we? However, how many times do we look at all the good things we have and assume they came from our own hard work, or from the lotto ticket we bought, or from government programs? How many times do we acknowledge that everything  and I mean every little thing  that we have is from God?
How many times do we view His commandments as a hardship upon us? How many times do we see him as a Master and us as the slave instead of realizing that every command, request, or prompting through His still small voice are words of loving-kindness that will bring us to greater love and happiness?
In scripture we repeatedly see individuals and civilizations go through a pride cycle. They come to God, repent, are blessed, prosper, become proud and then fall. At the point of humility, they come to God and repent. His mercy returns and the cycle repeats. It is my belief that the point at which prosperity becomes pride is when we stop being grateful. It's when we do as the wife in this story did and stop acknowledging that every good thing we have comes from God. It's when we start attributing our success to our own ingenuity or to other false "gods" we put before the true Source of all good things.
At the point of ingratitude, we become proud, and pride surely goes before a fall. Humble gratitude is the antidote for pride and the cure for a fallen world.

Thoughts for the night

Facing struggles, it really is hard sometimes but even David... a great king and a faithful man after God's own heart, had to pick himself up and say...

Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God. Ps 42:5

Whatever stands against you, it is not as strong as our God, it can't even compare. If we stand strong in God and do what is right by Him, he will show his power and give us the Peace that passes all understanding! The victory is His and His alone! Thank you God for all you have done!

Loving Literature and Loving God

My good church buddy and kids Godfather, Chris, has recently been talking of his reawakened passion for reading. This reminded me of my recently coming to love reading myself. It all started when my friend, Sam, lent me his book Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis by George Sayer.
I wanted to share my two favorite parts. The first about literature and the second of Clive's growing pressure to believe. (Mother-in-law, Shirley, has since given her her copy!!!!)

LITERATURE

Literature enlarges our being by admitting us to experiences not our own. They may be beautiful, terrible, awe-inspiring, exhilerating, pathetic, comic or merely piquant. Literature gives the entree to them all. Those of us who have been true readers all our life seldom realize the enormous extension of our being that we ow to authors. We realize it best when we talk with an unliterary friend. He may be full of goodness and good sense but he inhabits a tiny world. In it, we should be suffocated. My own eyes are not enough for me. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough. Very gladly would I learn what face things present to a mouse or bee.

In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in a Greek poem, I see with a thousand eyes, but it is still I who see. Here as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself: and am never more myself than when I do.

UNDER PRESSURE TO BELIEVE

T.D. ("Harry") Weldon was the tutor and college lecturer in the Greats at Magdan College. He was a cynic who scoffed at all creeds and almost all positive assertions, a man, Jack once wrote, who, "believes that he has seen through everything and lives at rock bottom." One day they were talking in Jack's room about the odd events of history when Weldon remarked that there was good evidence supporting the historicity of the Gospels. "Rum thing that stuff of Fraser's about the Dying God," Weldon said. "It almost looks as if it really happened once." Jack could harldy believe his ears. His guest was drinking whiskey but showed no sign of being drunk. When Jack pressed him for more information he seemed anxious to change the subject.

The effect on Jack was shattering. He examined the evidence on his own and had to agree that it was suprisingly good. From this time onward he felt under pressure to believe. He could not get out of his head such arguments as Chesterton's that, in claiming to be the Son of God, Jesus Christ was either a lunatic or a dishonest fraud or He was speaking the truth. Jack reread the Gospels and became more and more aware that they were not myths or made up stories at all, because the authors were simply too artless and unimaginative.

A blast from the past!

I was sitting around tonight, as Adam was at work, and looking at my old photo album. Just thought that I would share a few of the great and wonderful memories of the 90's!!! Yes the 90's, remember I am only 25. Remember these are scanned so they are not great quality.
Me in the "employee lounge" at Timmy's after my shift, enjoying... an iced capp, the first year that they were around! This outfit I am wearing may not look super cool to all of you, but those of you who know that I adore music and clothing from the 60's, would understand why this is packed away, in hopes that maybe Annabelle will be just as odd as her mommy when she is 16! I loved these overall bellbottoms and leather jacket and would wear them all the time... as a matter of fact, I still would be wearing them if I wasn't 5 sizes bigger now!

One of the only pitures of me that I really like. My big sis Virginia and I went on a holiday together every year for about 5, I guess. This was maybe our 4th trip??? I think so anyway. She had gone to Nova Scotia but on her way back, I hopped a bus to Edmonton to drive back with her. We had a great time! I loved it and have so many great memories! She took this one of me in from of the Rockies, obviously!
My couple years of strangeness. I do not even remember having those, oh so cool, gold curtains! But, we still have the ash tray that the candles are burning in right outside on out deck for visitors to use.
The gang... I recognise all but one. Not sure about that first girl but then there is Henny, me, BJ, Sirena, Clara, Bekki, Christy, Ruth, Chris, and Rich. Those were some days!
Me and my sister Virgie on one of our holidays. We had planned a trip to Ireland and bought the backpacks and saved most of the money but my other sister Bernadette planned her wedding for our holidaying time so... we shortened it and took a train to Edmonton. we really didn't want to miss the wedding, especially becasue we were in it! And we were very inexperienced with backpacking anywhere so it is probably good we went there instead of Ireland. We staying and camped in Jasper and they were pretty much the coldest nights I have ever had. We were bundled so much and still were too cold to sleep. Also, realizing that we had over packed, by a lot, we found a box and sent about 1/4 to 1/2 of our stuff back to mom. Stayed in Edmonton 10 days and had a great time! I still dream of going to Ireland... maybe with my hubby one day!
Last but not least, me and my girl, Sirena, in front of my car I had for my first year of driving... I am 16, she is 15. We met when she was 14 and I was 15, she came to know Christ shortly after. What a true blessing this friendship has been. I love you Sirena! She always called me, "my Char". I loved it! Look at us Sirena... I can't believe it is us.

It is amazing to me that God had a plan for me although I had quite a few really messed up year. I thank Him for His faithfulness to me... Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Well there is a little glimps... just because! Night night and God bless!

Caught this beautiful 18.5" dolly on the Copper River on January 17th. Man this guy put up a good fight. I brought the 35mm camera so no pics on location so far.

Facepaints, Friendship, and Love

Hey y'all! Just thought that I would post a few pics tonight. Jenny came over tonight for coffee and brought a pack of those yummy fudgy cookies that I was drooling over on her blog lately! Thanks a lot Jenny and your visits are always so enjoyable, always good for a night with lots of laughter! Gotta do it again soon! I think I will eat some cookies tonight for a bedtime snack.
So here are a couple pics of Joshua with his face painting that Ruth did in Sunday School class this week. He wanted pictures because he loved it so much! It was a little hard on him, the thought that he had to wash his face before bed. I think that Ruth has quickly become a favourite teacher in the class for my kids because of the face painting. We all enjoy it.

Last night I was waiting for Adam to come home from prayer. I was getting pretty tired and it was around 10pm... that is pretty early for me to be getting tired but anyway, I was. So, he came in and had had a really nice night. Then he threw me a pack of mentos and said, "I got you these from Walmart" I gave him a bit of an odd look and he said "don't you like mentos, yeah I just thought that I would get you a pack at walmart." So I said, "Why were you at Walmart?" "Just thought that I would get you Mentos" He says with a smile. Okay... So I was trying to figure out what was going on when he sat down. He said, "I know our anniversary isn't till next month but I wanted to get you this to wear out to dinner." So he handed me the box. What a sweety, he spent a portion of his i pod savings on this neclace for me. Totally unexpected and total surprise. God sure has blessed me with a great man. This is not a great picture, but you get an okay look at it. It is real rubies! I don't have much for jewlery so this is quite a treat for me. Makes me... feel like a woman! haha Love you Babe!
So, that is all for tonight. Have a great night and God Bless!

Update and lovely pics by Star!

Ladies party last night!!! It was awesome! My mom came and did her homework here at our house while the kids were sleeping and I was able to stay at the party till 1am! Yay! I really needed the time out and break. Thanks mom! And thank you Gwen for such a relaxing time.

Our basement is clean! Finally the guys from Hydra Mist finished doing the cleaning and sanitizing. I am so glad. That means that the fixing will start soon. Yippee!!! It looks like crap down there... but not for long!

My friend Starla came over a few days ago and took some picture, especially of Belle, to be possibly hanging in the Clever Cub's Den store that has newly opened up in town. It will be great advertising for her photography business. I was so excited as I love when people say that my kids have some special quality that they love to photograph. In this case of it was Belle's hair (It is loosing a lot of curl but still has a few beautiful ringlets) that was the thing she liked and I was more than happy to have her come and take the pics. Thank you so much Starla for taking the time and doing the boys pics too. So awesome! So, thought that I would post my favourites of the pics she took. They are beautifully done. What an awesome photographer!

Some catching up on the thoughts of our life

Well, it has been a while since I have really written a post so I will share about life for a moment.
Things are fine around here. I feel the basement is starting to come along. I just can't wait to have the fixing-it-up on the go. I feel so odd with no walls and floor and with having a whole lot of junk just thrown where ever in our house. The hardest part is that because we live in a condo and our neighbor's basement flooded, too, we have the bottom 2 feet of our basements open, just plastic seperating us. The days to follow the flooding I was having a lot of bad dreams, dreaming people were coming in our home while we were sleeping and I kept having to fight them off and I was so scared. So of course I prayed, prayed a lot, now the dreams are gone but I still dislike the feeling of having our safe little home open to our neighbors, although for the record, our neighbors seem like very trustwarthy people and also, people who would not harm pretty much anyone. I guess it is just all about being together in our little boxes of safety, no one coming in unless invited, no one seeing in unless let. Weird how that is. I realize more and more how the security of a home is a real need for people. I wish this would not be so strong as I would love to be more open to new people and even strangers. I guess it is my protective nature as a mother, too, which I believe God gives us for a very good purpose. I won't worry, and really there is nothing to be scared of. I need to tell myself what I tell the kids, "don't be scared, remember that Jesus is right beside you". Sometimes I forget about that. There is no reason to fear.

We celebrated Joshua's fifth birthday. Just 3 boys came and it was so relaxing and fun! I love small parties. I think that 3 is absolutely perfect. What a truly fine blessing that boy is in my life. I can't believe that it won't be long till he starts school. I am really excited as I know that he is more than ready and it will be a great thing to have more time to concentrate on the other two. I absolutely feel that Joshua was a blessing, something that I really needed in my life for my own faith developement and a gift from the heart of the Father to me. I love him so much! I will never forget the feeling I had when I first held that baby in my arms. It was very much a day of beautiful dreams coming true. A mother at last! I will be posting pics of the party soon.

Well, although it seems like foolishness to some, I have been trying to loose a little weight, with some success already which is a huge accomplishment for me. As most people know, before I had my babies I never had to worry about weight at all and I have grown to absolutely LOVE food. I can eat a lot if I want to and if it is good food I see, I really want to. It was a bit of a rude awakening over the past year gaining 10 pounds when I thought that I still had the metabolism of a teenager, so... although I always said I wouldn't, I decided to go on a low calorie diet. Nothing really strict but lowering my calories just a bit so I could loose about 15 pound... low and behold, after just less than 3 weeks, already I have lost 6 pounds! I was shocked to see that it was that quick. I should, I pray, have no problem reaching my goal by my birthday in March! If I don't, no biggy, I just want to eat healthier and a little less. I want to be an example to my kids of self control in this area, not overindulgence, sometimes even to the point of gluttony. I want them to know how to eat healthy and in that I know they will feel better and have more energy for life.

We have had our friend visiting from Alberta, Steve and Lorraine, with their little ones. It has been such a blessing to have the chance to catch up with Lorraine and to see our kids play together was so great. They are leaving this weekend, it will be tough to see them go. Their little girl got the flu last night when they were at my house. I loved just being able to be a help to them and to help to care for their children. What a blessing family and friends are. I, unfortunately, was just enjoying our visit and was not taking pictures so there are none to be seen but, I did enjoy these last few day imensely. Thank you Lorraine for lots of catch up and a friendship that carrys on even through miles of distance and years of absence. I love you guys and your family is absolutely beautiful!

In the last few weeks there have been a few people who are closely related with our church, pass away. We had a funeral, but a joyous one, for one of these people a few days ago. It was a celebration of her life and a "going away party" as she had requested. She was saved and going to see Christ. It was so nice, but I couldn't help but shed some tears in the "preparing to meet her beloved" part of the picture show. She was such a beautiful woman and had such a sweet spirit. I have been a little choked up this last couple days thinking of her but also, of course there is a sense of joy in that she is free and with the Father now. It is kind of helping me really appreciate the plan of what is to come. Lynne gave such a great analogy of a balloon (our earthly body) filled with helium (our spirit). After we pass away, our body lies empty but the spirit is free. She popped the balloon and said, the helium is not gone, it is just free. And it gave me great peace in my heart. I know the facts, and I know that the spirit seperates from the body and goes to be with Christ while the body stays an empty shell but I guess I just never thought of it like, the spirit is actually trapped until the day it is let be free. That really it is the true form that the spirit should be outside the body, not the way we are now, all confind to our flesh and apart, somewhat from God. Lynne, if you are reading this, thank you for that. You are so faithful in your aproach to God and you really helped in the lifting of my heart. You are such a blessing.

As it is getting late and I want to spend some time with God before I hit the hay, I will sign off. I hope everyone is well. Night night and God Bless!

Shopgirl and Last Holiday...

My movie reviews for the night...

Adam was working tonight so I thought that I would rent a couple movies, first of which I watched tonight, Shopgirl. Okay, so I was looking for kind of a romantic comedy because hey, that is a good kind to watch when Adam doesn't have to suffer through it. I had no idea what this was about and thought that it looked like that kind of movie from the front. If you ever have been told, 'don't judge a book by it's cover' in this case, a DVD, This is the prime example! I thought that there would be some laughs, lightheartedness, love and romance, etc. I was not impressed though. It was quite serious, sad almost depressing in parts. It was not funny, not romantic besides about 2 minutes in the whole movie and left me feeling a little distrot. Just a thought for you all, if you are going through the video store and see this and think that it may be good, try it if you like but it is pretty longish and be prepared not to have great feelings afterward. Also, I did not look at the ratings, it was rated R and so there is a bit of explicitness I could have lived without. Anyway, there are my feelings on that!

On another note, Adam and I watched this movie a few weeks ago, Last Holiday. It would have been such a great movie to re-watch tonight instead of wasting money on the first one mentioned. If you are looking for a wholesome, warmhearted, movie with a little romance thrown in, this is the one!!! We both really enjoyed it. It is rated PG 13 but I remember nothing that would have really merrited giving it a 13 in the rating. It was funny, and a bit of a different romantic comedy. If you are looking to find a movie of this kind... this is the one.

Hope you all are having a great night and GOD BLESS!!!

Christmas with the Browns!

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Christmas Eve

Dinner at my house, it was delicious! If I do say so myself! haha Very stressful preperation though as Joel was really crabby due to too much Christmas chocolate and a little binding displeasure. I felt so bad for him. We almost took him to the hospital because he just couldn't stop crying. Then he had a nap and woke up a little happier and finally things worked their way through and then he was great. My mom had to help a lot preping supper as I was tied up with Joel. It was great! Just about an hour late. So, although stressful, a success!
Joel holding the colouring book that Nana got for the kids. They opened it to try to calm him down. It worked for about 5 minutes.
Opening the colouring book. I am surprised it didn't end up getting ripped as all three were opening together, but it was fine.
Just before supper, Jennifer, Jarred and Stephanie stopped in to give the kiddos these chairs as a Christmas gift. Cute huh?! I love that show they are watching! After Joel was feeling better we had an awesome night of relaxing, stuffing stockings, after the kids were in bed of course, and watching Scrooge, then it was off to sleep for us just after midnight. Nice end to the night!
Thanks a lot guys, the kids love them!

Breaking through the bordom of our blog!

I know I have not posted much lately. It is mainly because there has been so much going on in our lives that I can't find time or energy to even sit at the computer for more than a few seconds at a time. Here are some pics from quite some time ago. Before Christmas my good friend, Jenny and I got together at my place to make some candy cane cookies. Although these look good and tasted good, I discovered afterward that I didn't put the right amount of flour in the dough, like I halfed it!!! I am surprised they even turned out at all. It was enjoyable and the kids loved eating them especially. I will update with Christmas pics soon. As soon as Joshua's birthday is done, party tomorrow!
I can't believe my first little one is 5! What a blessing and a half that kid is to me! He is my little faith builder, he always trusts in God, and he loves to share about it. He is also the one who takes care of me when I am sick, he tickles my back any time I want, snuggles, loves me no matter what happens, loves to play games, always makes me laugh. He is just a great kid and I am so blessed to be his mom, so blessed God let him be mine to care for. He blesses me every single day. Just his smile alone brightens my day. I love that little dude!
Joel, Gavin, Joshua and Annabelle during the cookie excitement.
Joel, just playing with dough
Cookies that the kids made. I sent this batch with Jenny and then I made the rest because of the dough problem it was very hard to make them
And here are the rest! 

Cookie time with Daddy!

As you can see there was a bit of taste testing of colours :) We made sugar cookies and later that day decided to decorate them with Adam. Here are some pics!
Joel's one creation. I love it! Then he sat down and ate it.
Joshua wanted to make this special gingerbread man so I got him to pose with it.
Yummy blue icing!!!

Belle decorating cookies
Daddy and Joel
Joshua and his masterpiece
A few of the marvelous cookies made that day! 

It's been a while!

Okay, this is going to be a little short for now as I have not had time to think today, let alone blog!
Starla and Jenny, thanks for wondering! The basement is coming along, slowly but surely. There is much to do and I am a little overwhelmed to say the least! I am making unending lists and can't remember anything it seems. About a week ago the people from Hydra Mist came and dryed the floor where the carpet was and then ripped out the carpet, what a relief! Then today they came and took all the bottoms of the walls and the linolium. weird to be able to look into my neighbors house! They flooded too, so their walls are also gone. It stinks down there and looks really rough! Tomorrow Webbs iss coming to check out our washer, dryer and deep freeze. I have a sinking feeling they are going to say we have to keep the washer and dryer, I am praying that they will say they are too rusted or damaged! Please God! I have wanted new ones for so long. We will see. So, that is where the basement stands. If you pray, please pray it will be a quicker process from here on out. I can't wait to have more space to live and a bedroom that is not piled to the ceiling with stuff! Also it would be nice to just know exactly what is going to be cover by insurance and prices and stuff as we have no money and a lot of stuff to be done!

Anyway, there are lots of pictures, just not on the computer yet. I am so worn out! Christmas morning was great! I mean, exactly what I could have hoped for! My mom slept over. I got up around 6:30 and made the coffee and got breakfast ready to cook. I turned on the christmas lights and music. By that time Adam was up and on the computer. I told him I was going to wake everyone. So,I guess it was around 7:30 I went and woke the kiddos. The gift opening was awesome. The kids were so blessed and so were we. I loved it. So relaxing and so many smiles. The kids were so greatful and they enjoyed every minute of it. Even though, the kitchen set that I loved and wanted so badly for the kids, was bought, then in the flood and was shipped off. There were no more at walmart so, no kitchen for the kids. They didn't even know the difference though. They don't know that even their old kitchen is gone. It was so awesome to have my mom spend Christmas with us. It was really my first time that anyone has ever done that. I hope it is a trend that will stick! I feel so blessed to have my family and so many friends with me during the holidays!

Adam had to work New Years Eve night. I invited my mom and Uncle Lloyd and Grandpa over. It was great! Snacks, games and all the kids made it till midnight and were still happy! My Uncle and Grandpa only stayed till about 10:30 but my mom and me and the kids brought in the new year together with newyears crackers and glowsticks! Pics to come. There is also Christmas dinner at our house and an absolutely awesome fondue party at mom's that I need to write about but I have to get the kids fed and to bed. Hope everyone is enjoying 2007 so far!