Friday, December 06, 2013

Thanksgiving 2013!

This year we went to Brad's family in Iowa for a lovely long Thanksgiving. We had lots of time with the cousins. We were able to work out almost every day (twice on one day (-:). Brad watched a lot! of sport games. I went fabric shopping with my mother-in-law -- *love*! We celebrated Dietrich's 6th birthday and Ivy's 4th birthday a bit early. We watched the fun new Disney Frozen movie -- which I really enjoyed (more than I anticipated). And Brad and I got to sleep in every single day -- we left feeling like we finally topped off our sleep tanks (after all those crazy first 5 years of babies) -- whew! Seriously, this is not a small thing, but the last day we were there, I woke up at a normal time -- like 6:30ish -- on my own and thought, I really don't need to sleep any more this morning -- I mean, I don't even feel tired. Crazy. Awesome. Whoot! Whoot! (To all those friends still in the little baby stage -- take heart!!! You can get through this and come out alive and whole on the other side -- changed and older but better and stronger!!!)

Pretty and Sweet Ivy



Nancy and Great-Grandma Trellis

Milo!

Max & Kara!

These two are such good friends!!




Milo & Brian!

Cousins coloring together before the Thanksgiving Feast



Guesstures! -- A kind of timed high-speed team charades game. The kids did great!

Girls vs. Boys

Having our kids be able to join in and play group family games -- wow! Awesome! Definitely a new era of family (parenting! kid!) awesome-ness!

This kid had a front top tooth that was so loose for so long that it hung sideways like some kind of haggle, hill-billy tooth. It was awful. And nothing I did to conjole Atticus would make him get it out. Aargh! He looked ridiculous. THEN -- he and Dietrich were playing some kind of karate game a couple weeks ago and Atticus got kicked in the mouth and instead of the that dang tooth coming out, the baby tooth below it got hit and it was also seriously askew. I noticed that it was looking kinda grey/blue over thanksgiving and that is when I realized it was barely attached to Atticus' mouth and that the tooth underneath it was an 1/8 of an inch up out of his gums. Weirdo. Well, by the end of the weekend, the two teeth were out of there (do not ask for the details, you may not approve of my methods (-:). Now the other front top tooth is wildly loose -- by Christmas, maybe? He looks like a street boxer. Ha!

Behold! Christmas Comes Fast & Festive!

I wanted to take a break in trying to catch up by sharing some sweet Christmas togetherness! Oh so full of joy this year -- God is just soothing all my sorrows for others and all the heaviness of existence with gladness after gladness. My life feels like a dream story that I can't believe I am really living...He is so very very kind to me. Thank you and thank you and thank you...forever into Eternity...



My Dad

Most of you know my dad has (had?) cancer this year. I am thankful the doctors caught it early because he was already on a screening schedule because of a few previous cases of Melanoma. And I am thankful that it was in a part of his body that usually has slow growth and quite a bit of success at taking care of it if it is caught early enough. I am thankful that my dad's surgery was at Mayo Clinic at Rochester because they are good at what they do. And because I was able to come be with him and mom for part of the recovery (and my sister could come be with my mom during the loooooonnng surgery beforehand). I am thankful that initial results seem to indicate that the cancer didn't leave the organ. I am thankful that my dad is making a good pace (not as much as he wishes but a better speed than the doctors usually see) at regaining basic functioning and that many more steps to getting to a good quality of full life. I am thankful that my dad is here. I love my dad. So much. Thank you, God, for an earthly father like mine. Please let my kids know and remember him.



Family Recipe...

So in Brad's family they have egg noodles when they have pot roast. And I always forget to get the frozen kind he wants. Drat. So to kinda make up for forgetting the last two times I decided to make my grandmother's (great-grandmother's) German egg noodles instead of getting the frozen store-bought kind Brad usually asks for. These were easy and fun and made me feel connected to my mom, my grandmother (who died when I was in college) and to my great-grandmother that I never knew. And Brad loved them. Yay.

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

The Falls

Last fall trip to hike at Minnehaha Falls...back in October...



I love how I can see fifteen-year old Atticus in this...

Better than his school picture! (-:























The Dexters! *Love!*


At the end of October Thea Belle had the honor of being a flower girl in our good friends' Artena & Dana wedding. It was an outdoor wedding at an historic farm. The weather was out of a movie scene -- perfect blue skies, exactly the right autumn temperature. The entire wedding was so very Artena and Dana. Beautiful!
And Thea Belle was wonderful! The other little girl was very tomboy-ish and full of vim and vigor! Thea Belle was so serious and proper. I love this kid!






Photos by True Story by Jill, the Photographer

Lovely photo by Faith Schneider, friend of the couple