Our Christmas

This year for Christmas Eve we were able to have Grandma Grace (mom's mom) over for a nice supper. We haven't been able to have Christmas with her in a LONG time!! I always enjoy Christmas dinner - our tradition is ham, mashed potatoes, and a variety of other side dishes like corn, olives, green beans, buns, and more! For dessert we always have a cookie plate filled with all kinds of goodies - peanut butter kiss cookies, Mexican wedding cakes (also called snowballs or walnut crescents), chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate kisses, and more!

After supper and clean-up dad read us the Christmas story out of Luke 2. Then it was time to open presents!! This year I got a few books (it seems like I get books every year - I wonder why?), a movie, some fuzzy socks, and some snowman poop!! Yes, you read it right - snowman poop (a.k.a. mini marshmallows)!! Here's the little poem that came with it:

Santa checked his list and then he checked it twice,
He found out you haven't been very nice.
Since coal is so expensive, here is the scoop,
He's giving you a stocking full of snowman poop!!

We also got some Jonathan Park Cd's (www.jonathanpark.com), and us kids all pitched in to buy some movies off of www.behemoth.com. We usually save a gift or two for Christmas Day, so that morning we gave mom her unexpected gift - a new camera!! She'd been wanting a small digital camera to carry around in her purse, but she was so surprised to get one for Christmas that she screamed!! For the rest of Christmas Day we just layed around in our pajamas reading, watching movies, and listening to Jonathan Park!! Here are some pictures of our Christmas Eve with grandma (the second to last one is of dad reading a sweet poem that Lydia wrote him):

Ice Boat Movie 2

It wasn't quite windy enough for Daniel's ice boat to sail by itself, so someone had to give him a push. Too bad he can't use it anymore since we keep getting more snow! It seems like every few days we get another snow storm!

Daniel's Ice Boat

Daniel built a really neat ice boat last month and, even though our pond is covered with snow now, he had fun trying it out in December. So here's a movie of him explaining how he made it, and then I'll post another movie of him "sailing" on it.

Wisdom Teeth

I had a very interesting experience last Thursday - I had my wisdom teeth taken out!! (so you may not want to read my blog anymore because I don't' have any wisdom - ha ha ha) Anyway, I had to get up at 5:45am (and not eat or drink anything) to get ready and leave by 6:15. We finally arrived at the hospital around 7 (we were told to come at that time) but had to wait around for a half hour because the x-ray people didn't even open until 7:30! So around 7:45 I was finally getting my mouth x-rayed and then we went to the oral surgery department. I was naturally nervous, but pretty soon we were ushered into a small room where I sat on a dentist-like chair. A nurse prepped us on what to do and not to do once the surgery was done, and then mom went back to the waiting room and I followed someone to the surgery room. I was told to lay down on a bed and then one nurse put something on me to monitor my heart, I think, while another stuck an IV in my arm. Then the one who stuck the IV in me told me that in a few seconds I was going to feel like my eyes were really droopy, and that I could close them. So, after a few seconds, my eyes did feel droopy and I did close them, and the next thing I knew I was in a strange room wondering where I was, and coughing! Two nurses were on either side of me and one was putting this lotion stuff on my dry lips. I think I was coughing because mom said they probably put something down my throat (isn't that nice to think of!). Soon I remember where I was and started feeling pretty uncomfortable with swollen cheeks and gauze sitting in the back of my mouth (and still feeling rather woozy!). It was interesting, however, to listen to the nurses conversation. :-) After a little while one of the nurses came over and gave me a pill and some water. I was probably in the recovery room 40 min. - 1 hour. Oh, and I also had an ice pack around my face (I'm sure I looked just wonderful!). When my time was done in the recovery room they put me in a wheelchair (!) and rolled me into a small room. Mom came in and then a nurse explained a few things and gave me extra gauze and some other stuff. Then mom went to pull up the car, and a nurse was supposed to bring me down in 5 minutes, I think, but I waited in that room for about 20 before I was finally put in a wheelchair (both fun and embarrassing at the same time!) and wheeled down to the car. I hope I'm not boring you all with details, but if you ever have to get your wisdom teeth out, at least you'll know exactly what to expect!! :-)

When I arrived home all my siblings and my dad had made me nice get well cards and put up a couple of welcome home signs. :-) Mom had also bought me a little present and a card. Thanks everyone!

So, I spent most of Thursday and Friday laying around, eating jello and broth, watching movies, napping, reading etc. I still am not allowed to eat things like popcorn or chips, but otherwise my diet is pretty much back to normal. I had to wear gauze for two days, and had to sleep with my head elevated. My cheeks were quite swollen and you can still see a bruise on my right cheek. Here's two pictures - in the first one I look just awful, and the second one was taken on Sunday. It looks like I got in a fight! :-)




Thankfully I'm doing a lot better now. BTW, I had to have all three of my wisdom teeth removed (I don't even have a fourth one) because they were impacted. So, I guess that's the end of my exciting adventure! :-)

Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Bluegrass with the Bartlett Boys

Here are the lyrics and a movie of this song the Bartletts sang for a concert while we were visiting them:

He's Coming Back to Earth Again

I walked into a church one day
While traveling on my way
I gave my heart to Jesus then
He's coming back to earth again!

(Chorus) He's coming back to earth again
To claim his children here
And if we will abide in him
He'll take us home where there's no fear.

My path seem brighter as I go
And I want the world to know
His precious blood your soul will cleanse
He's coming back to earth again.

(Chorus)

Dear friends I'm singing every day
Take the straight and narrow way
Let Jesus in, turn from your sin
He's coming back to earth again.

Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving this year our aunt and uncle flew all the way from North Carolina to visit us for 6 days! We had so much fun. Here is a short overview of what we did . . .

They arrived on Thursday afternoon (and grandma came from her nearby nursing home), and that evening we had a delicious Thanksgiving feast!! Yum! Dad, Caleb, Daniel and I woke up EARLY Friday morning (is 4am early enough?) to go after-Thanksgiving shopping. It was quite the experience! Some people were quite rude, some were quite nice, but thankfully we were able to get the things we wanted. We spend the rest of the day visiting a craft fair in the mall and relaxing at home. Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri both shot Caleb's muzzle loader!







On Saturday we cut down our Christmas tree. It was hard to pick one out of the thousands at the tree farm! But we finally picked one (below), and it turned out very nice.



We really wanted a Charlie Brown Christmas. Okay, okay, here's the real tree we cut down.





On Sunday Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri went to church in Hawley, and then met us at the Hawley nursing home where we played some music for the residents. That afternoon we watched the Packer/Panther game on our new HD digital TV (bought at the after-Thanksgiving sale). Sadly, the Packers didn't win. And I know the Vikings won, Andrea, but still, the Packers have won 3 SUPER BOWLS!!!! :-)

Mom drove Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri to visit Grandma Grace on Monday. They had a good time visiting her and seeing her very own lake side room, all decorated for Christmas. (Uncle Tim is mom's brother, by the way.)



On Tuesday morning we all left for town, and we had a fun time walking the mall, going out to eat at Culver's, and riding the Ferris wheel at Scheel's. Then mom dropped Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri off at the airport, and they were off back to warm North Carolina. Thanks for a great time, Uncle Tim and Aunt Lauri!

My Room

I've been wanting to post pictures of Lydia's and my room, so here they are!! We painted it a little while ago and got new bedspreads, and a new mushroom chair (thanks Aunt Jan!). In case you all didn't know, Lydia LOVES Littlest Pet Shop. Before we redecorated, our room was painted a tan color and had horse bedspreads and horse paintings on the walls. We kind of got out of that horse phase when we realized we weren't going to be getting a horse. They take up a lot of time and cost more than we wanted to give something that doesn't give much back. So, we really like our new bright colors, even though it took forever for us to decide on what to get!! :-)




This is my Hope Chest, with our boom box and Lydia's LPS!




Our bunk beds - in case you couldn't guess, mine is the bottom! :-)