Hannah's First Christmas - memorable for us all

I had written some profound and moving thoughts in my prayer journal about the incarnation of Christ that I thought I would might use for our Christmas post. What happened on Christmas morning changed my approach - not that those moving thoughts didn't really impact me, but a lighter post is needed to tell about Hannah's first Christmas morning.

We told the kids they couldn't come out of their rooms until 7:00 a.m. 7:01 finds us all in the living room getting ready to pray and pass aroundthe gifts. And then we see them, hundreds of little bugs crawling on the floor under the tree, down the hall, everywhere! GROSS!!! It turns out our tree was infested with conifer aphids that had apparently hatched by the hundreds to greet us on Christmas morn. I guess some of them had been there all along hiding inside the tree because we kept wondering why our tree was dripping sap. It wasn't sap, it turns out, it was "honeydew" made by the aphids themselves.

Well, we did manage to enjoy our gift opening and Eric made breakfast while I vacuumed up as many of them as I could. After breakfast, we promptly put the kids in front of a movie and Eric and I undecorated the tree. As soon as the ornaments were off, Eric had to empty the water basin with a turkey baster since we had to lean the tree over to get it out the door. He was underneath the tree and being covered up by these little bugs. We were both so grossed out that it became downright hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in many, many months. Once we could tip the tree, out the door it went - lights on and all. Eric drug it straight to the curb where he removed the lights and took a few pictures. So disgusting! So by 10:00 am, the tree was out the door and many of our Christmas decorations were put away. I decided to go ahead and just undecorate - why prolong the chore for days? We left the outdoor lights up for a few more days.

Our Christmas meal and lighting of the Christ candle had to wait until dinner. Eric and I worked hard all day, cleaning, cooking, but by evening we had a nice Christmas dinner, advent ceremony and got the kids to bed on time. We watched a funny movie and had a memorable Christmas day.

I have been vying for a nice pre-lit artificial tree for a few years. I think I

just might get it now...... All things work together for good......

Sugar Cookies

I was a bit too overwhelmed this Christmas to make our usual sugar cookie cutouts, but we did manage to bake and decorate the store bought cookie dough:-) Decorating is the fun part anyway, right? We made these cookies on Christmas Eve. That evening we went to our church's Christmas Eve service, drove around and looked at lights, came home and watched "Twas the Night Before Christmas." It's a little animated show that my sister and I loved when we were kids. You might remember it, too. It's the one where the little mouse wrote the bad letter to Santa, and Santa boycotted the town until Mr. Trundle made a huge clocktower singing beautiful music beckoning him back. The little mouse also broke the clock, and it wasn't until the last minute that he got it working and Santa showed up and all was right with the world. Funny, we don't even celebrate Santa in our family, but I still love this little show. Childhood memories, I guess. Gabe, who is 3, saw a picture of Santa this year and asked, "Who is that?" I thought that was just awesome. I don't profess that it is either right or wrong to believe in Santa, so I am not throwing any stones. We just chose early on that we were going to do our best to keep the focus on Jesus, and Santa just didn't fit in that picture. When we had the big family Christmas gathering, Hannah jumped in Uncle Stephen's arms and told him about Jesus in the manger. Better that a 3 year old can tell you who Jesus is but isn't sure about Santa, don't you think?

Hannah's Quilt

So many loving friends and family contributed to Hannah's Good Wishes Quilt before she was even home. For a while it was just decoration in her room as she didn't really care for anything soft. Apparently, she was used to a hard crib and a few hard toys. Soft lovies and blankies and all those things we lavish on our children were foreign to her. It has taken her a while, but now she loves the soft things, too. At night she is surrounded by stuffed animals, 2 quilts, and a beautifully crocheted blanket made by Carrie Gray. She is finally comfortable with soft things. Here's a picture of her one night after bath time when she was cold and wanted to be wrapped up in her quilt until she was warm again. Praise God for all the progress she has made.

Lauren's Little House Birthday Party

We had a great time being pioneers for a day with sack races, square dances, and a covered wagon.

Catching up - Fall Leaves are Fun

Raking the fall leaves is always a time for great fun!

Time for the Family Blog

Well, I think it is time for the family blog to start and close out our "Waiting for Hannah" blog. I don't have all the pretty headers and bells and whistles yet, but I'll start working on it. We have all come a long way in the past 3 months since Hannah came home. We are finally at the point where we feel sort of normal again - sort of. Hannah is settling in very well; I am making it through my depression and anxiety through God's mighty hand; Lauren, Andrew and Gabe are starting to figure out their new roles and how to love even when it isn't easy. God is teaching us all so much. I know He is at work in our lives (and so does the Enemy). It has drawn us to our knees in prayer so many times. That can only be a good thing in the long run, and that's what I have to keep remembering - the long run. Trials do many things to grow us, but one of them is to help us remember that we are aliens and strangers in this world - this is not our home. We are being fitted for another home and trained for another kingdom. We are trusting God to complete the work He has begun in our new family.

Excerpts from Psalm 18: In my distress, I called upon the Lord, to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. He sent from on high, he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy. He brought me out into a broad place, he rescued me because he delighted in me. For you save a humble people. For it is you who light my lamp - the Lord lightens my darkness. This God - his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.